KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 12,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $485,000. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 19.8% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 98,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,803,000 after acquiring an additional 16,280 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,408,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after purchasing an additional 143,953 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 61.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,925 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN opened at $27.90 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.94. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.73 and a beta of 0.85. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.55 and a 12-month high of $42.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 2.27%. Equities analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is 101.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Werner Enterprises in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.73.

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.