Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 77,696 Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 77,696 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,791,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WERN. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the 3rd quarter worth $96,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,976 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 1.8 %

WERN stock opened at $28.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 50.98 and a beta of 1.06. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a one year low of $26.50 and a one year high of $42.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.80.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 2.27%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.07.

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.