abrdn plc Sells 197,560 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

abrdn plc lessened its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 31.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 428,021 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 197,560 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.68% of Werner Enterprises worth $18,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WERN. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth about $620,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $754,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,451 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $58,193,000 after purchasing an additional 103,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 29,301 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, April 1st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

WERN opened at $35.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.92. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.67 and a 52-week high of $47.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.24 and its 200-day moving average is $39.25.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $821.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $820.90 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 3.42%. The business’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 31.82%.

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.