Bayforest Capital Ltd Increases Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd significantly increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by purchasing an additional 26,158 shares, raising its ownership to 27,708 shares valued at approximately $812,000.
• Werner Enterprises announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14, representing an annualized dividend of $0.56 and a yield of 2.0%, which will be paid on October 22nd.
• The stock has seen a range between a 12-month low of $23.02 and a high of $42.48, with a current market capitalization of $1.71 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.27.

Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 1,687.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,708 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying 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 reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 163.5% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 959 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 69.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,176 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 15.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Crestline Management LP purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth $254,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises during the first quarter worth $265,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WERN. Baird R W upgraded Werner Enterprises to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $30.43.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 2.4%

Werner Enterprises stock traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.01. The stock had a trading volume of 557,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 612,027. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.02 and a twelve month high of $42.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $28.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.22.

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

Werner Enterprises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, August 11th that allows the company to buyback 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is presently 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises Company 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.