First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 165,233 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,058,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 165,233 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.05% of Werner Enterprises worth $80,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 289.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 42.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 6.9% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 1,147.3% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,020 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 7,377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Werner Enterprises

In related news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,418 shares of Werner Enterprises stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $49,318.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,945,801.88. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $31.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.95. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $38.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -130.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.61 and a 200-day moving average of $29.70.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.48% and a positive return on equity of 0.04%. The business had revenue of $737.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.51 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -233.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on WERN shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.15.

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.