Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• Empowered Funds increased its Werner Enterprises position by 30% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 284,197 shares valued at approximately $8.36 million. Institutional investors collectively own 89.32% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: some firms raised ratings or price targets, while others maintained neutral, underperform, or sell views. The stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target price of $41.54.
• Werner’s latest quarter showed ongoing operating pressure, with EPS of $0.22 below the $0.24 estimate and revenue of $813.36 million below expectations, despite 24% year-over-year growth. The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, yielding about 1.5% annually.

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 30.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 284,197 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 65,534 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Werner Enterprises worth $8,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 205,654 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 30,812 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,750,034 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $82,529,000 after buying an additional 120,343 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $195,491,000 after buying an additional 90,480 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 180.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 578,761 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $17,369,000 after buying an additional 372,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,081,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Werner Enterprises

Here are the key news stories impacting Werner Enterprises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Susquehanna upgraded Werner from “neutral” to “positive” and set a $44 price target, while Robert W. Baird raised its rating from “neutral” to “outperform” with a $43 target. Both targets imply meaningful upside from recent trading levels. Susquehanna upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan increased its Werner price target to $39, adding another constructive analyst signal despite the target remaining relatively close to the current share price. JPMorgan raises Werner price target
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks reports that WERN has formed a bullish “hammer” chart pattern and entered technically oversold territory after losing roughly 14.6% over four weeks. Rising earnings-estimate revisions could support a near-term trend reversal. Zacks hammer pattern analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Werner’s CEO expressed optimism that crackdowns on “shadow capacity” could reduce unfair or underreported trucking capacity, potentially improving freight pricing and utilization. Werner CEO capacity comments
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen lowered its price target to $41, although the revised target remains above recent trading levels. TD Cowen lowers Werner price target
• Negative Sentiment: Werner’s latest quarter included an earnings-per-share miss and revenue below consensus expectations, which highlights continuing operating pressure despite year-over-year revenue growth. The company also reported a negative net margin. Werner Q2 2026 earnings call summary

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on WERN shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.54.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN opened at $37.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of -49.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.26. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $47.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm's 50-day moving average is $42.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.46.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $813.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $931.12 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 1.42% and a positive return on equity of 1.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. Analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is -73.68%.

About Werner Enterprises

Werner Enterprises, Inc, founded in 1956 by Clarence L. “Chris” Werner, is a leading transportation and logistics provider based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company began as a one‐truck operation and has since grown into one of North America's largest carriers, offering an array of services to support diverse supply chains.

Werner's core business activities include full truckload dry van services, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal transport and brokerage solutions. The company also provides value-added services such as warehousing, freight management and fleet maintenance through its network of terminals and service centers.

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