Bayforest Capital Ltd Increases Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 1,687.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,708 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,158 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth about $35,257,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,634,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 182.3% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 327,057 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $9,583,000 after buying an additional 211,215 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 10.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,835,187 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $53,844,000 after buying an additional 174,341 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 5.0% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,641,546 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $106,697,000 after buying an additional 173,572 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 3.1%

NASDAQ:WERN traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,331,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 911,272. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.08. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $27.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.78. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.02 and a twelve month high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 0.92%. The business had revenue of $753.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.09 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WERN. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Werner Enterprises from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.87.

Werner Enterprises Profile

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.