Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) COO Eric Downing Sells 1,428 Shares

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) COO Eric Downing sold 1,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $49,980.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 57,364 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,740. This represents a 2.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 7.4%

Werner Enterprises stock traded down $2.63 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $32.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,170,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,334,452. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.26. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a one year low of $23.02 and a one year high of $38.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is -233.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WERN shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.14.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 52.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 573,891 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,105,000 after purchasing an additional 197,155 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 19.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 174,842 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,602,000 after buying an additional 27,869 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 22.0% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 76,426 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after buying an additional 13,782 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,280,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,408,000 after buying an additional 110,468 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 59.5% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 179,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,908,000 after buying an additional 66,927 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.