Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• Vanguard Group increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 6.51 million shares, or about 10.9% of the company.
• Werner Enterprises reported Q1 earnings of $0.02 per share, beating analyst estimates, though revenue of $730.1 million came in below expectations despite rising 13.6% year over year.
• Wall Street remains cautious on WERN, with an average analyst rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $35.15, while the stock recently traded near $36.42.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 90,480 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.89% of Werner Enterprises worth $195,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 289.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,429 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 42.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,542 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,614 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 6.9% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,271 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WERN opened at $36.42 on Monday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.06 and a 1-year high of $38.46. The business's 50 day moving average is $31.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -242.80, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.66% and a negative net margin of 0.28%.The firm had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $812.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 13th. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -373.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WERN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore lifted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $35.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,418 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $49,318.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,945,801.88. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

Werner Enterprises, Inc, founded in 1956 by Clarence L. “Chris” Werner, is a leading transportation and logistics provider based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company began as a one‐truck operation and has since grown into one of North America's largest carriers, offering an array of services to support diverse supply chains.

Werner's core business activities include full truckload dry van services, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal transport and brokerage solutions. The company also provides value-added services such as warehousing, freight management and fleet maintenance through its network of terminals and service centers.

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