Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN Stock Holdings Raised by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired an additional 68,864 shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc., increasing its stake by 17.1% to a total of 472,626 shares, valued at approximately $13.85 million.
• Werner Enterprises reported a net revenue of $753.15 million for the last quarter, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, though their earnings per share of $0.11 still marked a decline from $0.17 per share the previous year.
• The company has authorized a share buyback program allowing for the repurchase of 5 million shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 17.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 472,626 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 68,864 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.76% of Werner Enterprises worth $13,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 796.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.9% during the 1st 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. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,701 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 2,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,761 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WERN. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" 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 report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $30.50.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 6.4%

Werner Enterprises stock traded up $1.8050 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $29.9150. 285,889 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 902,561. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.08. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.88.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 0.92%. The firm had revenue of $753.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, August 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 5,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.