Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $260,000 Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 97.7% during the first quarter, leaving it with only 8,877 shares worth $260,000.
• Analyst ratings for Werner Enterprises show a mixed sentiment, with six analysts rating it as a sell, seven as hold, and three as buy; the current consensus rating is "Hold" with a target price of $30.50.
• Werner Enterprises reported a net decline in revenue of 1.0% year-over-year and earnings per share of $0.11, beating estimates but lower than last year's $0.17.

Empower Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 97.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,877 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 370,359 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 22,516 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in 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. Bank of Montreal Can grew 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 valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 33,848 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $992,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 6.0%

Shares of WERN stock traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $27.60. The company had a trading volume of 356,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,307. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.02 and a twelve month high of $42.48. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $27.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.08.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $753.15 million during 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 last year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is currently 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, August 11th that allows the company to buyback 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.50.

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.