State of Wyoming Makes New $284,000 Investment in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• The State of Wyoming has invested approximately $284,000 by purchasing 9,679 shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. in its recent 13F filing.
• Werner Enterprises reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.11, surpassing expectations, with revenues of $753.15 million despite a 1% decline year-over-year.
• The company has announced a share repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of 5 million shares, indicating management believes its stock is undervalued.

State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,679 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WERN. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 308,067 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $9,026,000 after acquiring an additional 8,080 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 164.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 6,879 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the first quarter valued at approximately $686,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the first quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of WERN traded down $0.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $28.42. 75,011 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 881,598. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.02 and a twelve month high of $42.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 0.92%. The business had revenue of $753.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.09 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

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 dividend yield of 2.0%. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, August 11th that allows the company to repurchase 5,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WERN. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $30.50.

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.