MQS Management LLC Acquires Shares of 14,827 Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

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

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 13.9% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 62.4% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 11,716 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 4,501 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 1st quarter worth about $782,000. Dean Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 54,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 539.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,670,737 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,139,000 after buying an additional 1,409,556 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $43.82 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.46. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $45.27. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -292.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.05. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.66% and a negative net margin of 0.28%.The firm had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $812.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Evercore upgraded Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price 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.