Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 139.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 703 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,854,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $228,050,000 after buying an additional 48,380 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 576,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $22,439,000 after buying an additional 39,825 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,643,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 705,304 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,472,000 after buying an additional 153,271 shares during the period. Finally, Ergoteles LLC grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 168.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 45,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,013,000 after buying an additional 28,598 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN opened at $38.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.49. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.02 and a 52-week high of $47.27.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $821.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $820.90 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 3.42% and a return on equity of 8.17%. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WERN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays cut shares of Werner Enterprises from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

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.