Two Sigma Advisers LP Boosts Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 75.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 224,700 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 96,500 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.36% of Werner Enterprises worth $8,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WERN. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,976 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WERN. Barclays decreased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Werner Enterprises from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.69.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 1.0%

WERN traded down $0.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $25.90. 217,158 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 828,232. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 47.10 and a beta of 1.09. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.02 and a fifty-two week high of $42.48. The company's fifty day moving average price is $27.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $712.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $738.41 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is 193.10%.

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.