Nuance Investments LLC Has $83.03 Million Stake 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 cut its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure 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 quarter. Werner Enterprises makes up about 5.5% of Nuance Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned about 4.58% of Werner Enterprises worth $83,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WERN. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 308,067 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $9,026,000 after purchasing an additional 8,080 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 164.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 6,879 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the first quarter worth about $686,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the first quarter worth about $265,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 53,640 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 13,758 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WERN shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.50.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN traded up $1.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $28.67. 960,521 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,009,720. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

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

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, August 11th that allows the company to buyback 5,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 6th. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is 65.12%.

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.