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

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN – Get Rating) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 63,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,925 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $2,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 882 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 280.0% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,937 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 73.2% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 92.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ WERN opened at $44.46 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.31. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.84 and a fifty-two week high of $50.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The transportation company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $832.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $857.09 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 6.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 30th. This is a boost from Werner Enterprises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WERN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Werner Enterprises from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.28.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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Werner Enterprises, Inc engages in the provision of logistics services. It operates through the Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics segments. The Truckload Transportation Services segment consists of one-way truckload and specialized services units such as the medium-to-long haul van fleet which provides a consumer non durable products and commodities in truckload quantities.