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

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the 4th quarter worth about $35,257,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth $31,634,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,987,187 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $71,380,000 after acquiring an additional 234,811 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $59,010,000 after buying an additional 143,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 210,389 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $7,557,000 after acquiring an additional 124,574 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on WERN. TD Cowen cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "hold" rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.69.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ WERN traded down $0.21 on Wednesday, reaching $26.15. 707,921 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 829,209. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.02 and a fifty-two week high of $42.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.55 and a beta of 1.09. The business's fifty day moving average price is $27.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.24). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $712.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $738.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The company's revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 193.10%.

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.