Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 44.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 317,267 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 98,330 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.50% of Werner Enterprises worth $13,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,854,948 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $228,050,000 after purchasing an additional 48,380 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,691,557 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $143,786,000 after acquiring an additional 59,906 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 106.4% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,455,785 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $56,703,000 after acquiring an additional 750,562 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,373,458 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $58,193,000 after acquiring an additional 103,818 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 35.0% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 962,645 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $37,495,000 after purchasing an additional 249,838 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WERN shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.83.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WERN traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 974,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,342. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.82. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.12 and a 52 week high of $47.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The company had revenue of $769.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $788.30 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Werner Enterprises's payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Werner Enterprises Company 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.