Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 82,581 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1.2%, owning approximately 11.01% of the company with a market value of $199.62 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several research firms have adjusted their price targets on Werner's stock, with an average target of $30.50 and mixed ratings ranging from "buy" to "sell" among analysts.
• Werner Enterprises announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, alongside a stock buyback program authorizing the purchase of 5 million shares, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,813,038 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,581 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.01% of Werner Enterprises worth $199,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WERN. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 796.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 1,513 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,701 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 2,738 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,761 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WERN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target 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. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $30.50.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN stock traded up $1.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.55. The company had a trading volume of 900,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,008,166. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.84. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.02 and a fifty-two week high of $42.48.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is presently 65.12%.

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

Werner Enterprises 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.