Northern Trust Corp Boosts Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 669,353 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,977 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.08% of Werner Enterprises worth $24,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 796.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,976 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WERN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Werner Enterprises from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.69.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN opened at $28.18 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $28.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.24 and a beta of 1.09.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $712.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $738.41 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. Werner Enterprises's quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.