Empowered Funds LLC Acquires Shares of 212,541 Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC recently acquired 212,541 shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc., valued at approximately $6.2 million, marking a new stake for the investment firm.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Werner Enterprises, with three rating it as a Buy and others giving Hold and Sell ratings, resulting in an average target price of $30.43.
• Werner Enterprises announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, with plans for a $5 million stock repurchase program, signaling confidence in its stock valuation.

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 212,541 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $6,227,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.34% of Werner Enterprises at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 163.5% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 959 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Shay Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter worth approximately $323,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 1st quarter worth approximately $265,000. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $27.71 on Thursday. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $28.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.31. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.02 and a 52-week high of $42.48. The company has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.09.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $753.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.09 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 0.92%. Werner Enterprises's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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, October 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, October 6th 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 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 6th. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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