Congress Asset Management Co. Grows Stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 434,772 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,586 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned 0.70% of Werner Enterprises worth $12,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1,119.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,511 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 11,485 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 69.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,176 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,634,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 126,453 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,542,000 after purchasing an additional 16,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 55,917 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,009,000 after purchasing an additional 23,120 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WERN. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI lowered Werner Enterprises from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.77.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of WERN traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.46. The company had a trading volume of 913,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 840,726. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.93 and a beta of 1.06. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.02 and a 52-week high of $42.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $712.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $738.41 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The company's revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

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.