Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Acquires New Holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,139,653 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,201,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,614 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 56.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 79,807 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,395,000 after acquiring an additional 28,764 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 49.0% in 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 29.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,620,000 after acquiring an additional 22,761 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 11.3% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 67,712 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 6,857 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $49,318.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,945,801.88. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ WERN opened at $28.64 on Tuesday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $38.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $32.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.33, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.06.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $737.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.51 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.04% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently -233.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WERN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $33.15.

About Werner Enterprises

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.