Allianz Asset Management GmbH Increases Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 43.5% during Q1, increasing its ownership to 255,987 shares, worth approximately $7.5 million.
• Werner Enterprises reported a quarterly loss of $0.12 per share, missing analysts' expectations and showing a 7.4% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company's latest dividend, paid on July 23rd, was $0.14 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.96% with a high dividend payout ratio of 193.10%.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 43.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 255,987 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 77,615 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned 0.41% of Werner Enterprises worth $7,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 55,022 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,938 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth approximately $445,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its position 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,730,457 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $241,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,228 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 210,389 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,557,000 after buying an additional 124,574 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $25.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.87.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 0.9%

Werner Enterprises stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.36. The company had a trading volume of 192,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,917. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.07. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.02 and a 12-month high of $42.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.89.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

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.