Penn Capital Management Company LLC Acquires 48,089 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Penn Capital Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 10.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 491,541 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,089 shares during the quarter. Werner Enterprises accounts for about 1.4% of Penn Capital Management Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Penn Capital Management Company LLC’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $21,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WERN. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 205,654 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 30,812 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,119,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 30.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 284,197 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,358,000 after buying an additional 65,534 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,491,000 after buying an additional 90,480 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,860,000. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Werner Enterprises from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.54.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $38.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.06 and a 12-month high of $47.49. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of -50.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.86 and its 200-day moving average is $36.96.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $813.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.12 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 1.18% and a negative net margin of 1.42%.The business’s revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -73.68%.

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.