Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $25 Million Stock Holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its ownership in Werner Enterprises, Inc. by 21.2%, acquiring an additional 149,087 shares and owning approximately 1.38% of the company by the end of the first quarter.
• Werner Enterprises recently reported earnings of $0.11 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, despite a 1.0% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company has authorized a share buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of up to 5 million shares, indicating management's belief that the stock may be undervalued.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 21.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 853,258 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 149,087 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.38% of Werner Enterprises worth $25,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WERN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,813,038 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $199,622,000 after buying an additional 82,581 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 389.0% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,584 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 7,624 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 1,687.6% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 26,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 46.1% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 63,702 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 20,114 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $30.50.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 1.9%

WERN traded down $0.5740 on Monday, reaching $28.9760. The company's stock had a trading volume of 193,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,043. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business's 50 day moving average is $28.08 and its 200 day moving average is $28.76.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 0.92% and a net margin of 1.77%.The firm had revenue of $753.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Werner Enterprises's revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, October 6th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, August 11th that permits the company to repurchase 5,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.