Quantbot Technologies LP Raises Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 431.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,049 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,274 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 24.5% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,943,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $152,195,000 after acquiring an additional 776,277 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 37.1% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,665,309 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,668,000 after purchasing an additional 450,522 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,516,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $58,537,000 after purchasing an additional 56,551 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,506,663 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,984,000 after purchasing an additional 201,843 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 65.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 879,371 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,455,000 after purchasing an additional 348,154 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN stock opened at $40.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.00, a PEG ratio of 34.60 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.34. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.12 and a twelve month high of $43.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $765.24 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WERN shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “negative” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.57.

Werner Enterprises Company 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.