William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $14.39 Million Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Werner Enterprises by 25.4% in Q2, now owning 525,976 shares valued at approximately $14.39 million.
• Werner Enterprises recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.11 per share, exceeding analyst expectations while revenue declined 1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a share buyback plan authorizing the repurchase of 5 million shares, which typically indicates that the board believes the stock is undervalued.

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 25.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 525,976 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 179,300 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.85% of Werner Enterprises worth $14,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WERN. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,854 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,717,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 14,528 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 23,008 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake 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 worth $992,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 0.1%

WERN opened at $27.84 on Monday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.02 and a fifty-two week high of $42.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.77 and a 200-day moving average of $27.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.06.

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

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

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 paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WERN shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Werner Enterprises from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $27.57.

About Werner Enterprises

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.

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