Inspire Investing LLC Raises Stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 551 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 145.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 2,390.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the third quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WERN has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna raised Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.50.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $38.23 on Tuesday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.12 and a 1-year high of $42.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.74 and its 200 day moving average is $37.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $765.24 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.67 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.71%.

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.