State of Wyoming Purchases New Holdings 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 bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,679 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,813,038 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $199,622,000 after acquiring an additional 82,581 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.0% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,641,546 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $106,697,000 after buying an additional 173,572 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,170,527 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $63,596,000 after buying an additional 183,340 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,121,696 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $76,211,000 after buying an additional 19,370 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 10.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,835,187 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $53,844,000 after buying an additional 174,341 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.61. The stock had a trading volume of 566,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 681,714. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $42.48. The business's 50-day moving average price is $28.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.39. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.09.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $753.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Werner Enterprises's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, August 11th that permits the company to repurchase 5,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be paid 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WERN. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $25.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. 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. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average 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.