Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Shares Acquired by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 64.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $50,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WERN. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the third quarter valued at approximately $485,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the third quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 4.8% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 362,786 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,000,000 after buying an additional 16,637 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 31.1% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 84,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,245,000 after buying an additional 19,944 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 16,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WERN. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 0.6 %

WERN opened at $34.44 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 62.62, a P/E/G ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.54. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $42.48.

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 return on equity of 2.26% and a net margin of 1.13%. As a group, research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.82%.

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.