Nuance Investments LLC Cuts Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Key Points

• Nuance Investments LLC reduced its stake in Werner Enterprises by 21.6% in Q1, now holding approximately 5.5% of the company's shares after selling 778,940 shares, making it their 5th largest position.
• Analysts have varied outlooks on Werner Enterprises, with target prices ranging from $21.00 to $39.00; the stock holds an average rating of "Hold" with a target price of $30.50.
• Werner Enterprises recently announced a share buyback plan to repurchase up to 5 million shares and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14, reflecting a 2.2% dividend yield.

Nuance Investments LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,833,654 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 778,940 shares during the period. Werner Enterprises comprises 5.5% of Nuance Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned approximately 4.58% of Werner Enterprises worth $83,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WERN. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 13,717 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 1,870 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 145.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 210,389 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $7,557,000 after buying an additional 124,574 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 73,560 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,642,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at $273,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 40,375 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 8,641 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WERN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W raised Werner Enterprises to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.50.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WERN traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.01. The company had a trading volume of 917,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,036,238. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $28.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.10. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.02 and a 12 month high of $42.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.08.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 earnings per share 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 net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 0.92%. The company's revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 6th. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.12%.

Werner Enterprises declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, August 11th that permits the company to buyback 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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.