Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires New Holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 23,420 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $686,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WERN. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 53,495 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 299,987 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $10,776,000 after purchasing an additional 8,385 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,168 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 252,711 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $9,077,000 after purchasing an additional 9,219 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 20,430 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of WERN traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.25. 1,263,438 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 794,018. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.02 and a 1-year high of $42.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 93.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.66. The business's 50 day moving average price is $27.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.53.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.24). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 1.20%. The company had revenue of $712.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $738.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Werner Enterprises's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WERN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.50.

About Werner Enterprises

Werner Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in interstate and intrastate commerce in the United States, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics.