Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 57,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,515,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,660 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 5,473 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 36,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,854 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,717,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 76,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,100,000 after purchasing an additional 15,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 159.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 226,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,186,000 after purchasing an additional 138,995 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ WERN opened at $38.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.96. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $47.49.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 5th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 5th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently -73.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WERN. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.54.

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.