Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 1,600 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,430 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WERN. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 2,390.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 3rd quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 59.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their price target 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, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $32.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.20 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.13. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.05 and a 12-month high of $42.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.82%.

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.