Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,641,546 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 173,572 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 5.89% of Werner Enterprises worth $106,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WERN. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 69.7% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,176 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 796.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 35.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WERN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W raised shares of Werner Enterprises to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.40.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 1.8%

WERN traded down $0.50 on Friday, reaching $27.73. 1,034,614 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 797,840. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $27.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.22. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.02 and a 52-week high of $42.48. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.62, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $712.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $738.41 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 1.20%. Werner Enterprises's revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is currently 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.