Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Short Interest Update

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,520,000 shares, an increase of 25.3% from the May 31st total of 2,810,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 888,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN opened at $35.83 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.37 and a 200-day moving average of $38.58. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.90. Werner Enterprises has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $47.27.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $769.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $788.30 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 42.75%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 139.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the first quarter valued at $43,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the first quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, Hills Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter valued at $106,000. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WERN shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Three 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.25.

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.