MQS Management LLC Makes New $436,000 Investment in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,827 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WERN. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,429 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,614 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter worth $217,000. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ WERN opened at $43.82 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -292.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.26. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.06 and a 12-month high of $45.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.05. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.28% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The firm had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently -373.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Werner Enterprises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $37.77.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

Werner Enterprises, Inc, founded in 1956 by Clarence L. “Chris” Werner, is a leading transportation and logistics provider based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company began as a one‐truck operation and has since grown into one of North America’s largest carriers, offering an array of services to support diverse supply chains.

Werner’s core business activities include full truckload dry van services, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal transport and brokerage solutions. The company also provides value-added services such as warehousing, freight management and fleet maintenance through its network of terminals and service centers.