Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc trimmed its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 36.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 83,663 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 47,848 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $3,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises during the second quarter worth $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the second quarter worth $29,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 209.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,158 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WERN shares. Citigroup started coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.57.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of WERN opened at $39.62 on Wednesday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.12 and a fifty-two week high of $43.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 33.89 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. The business had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $765.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Werner Enterprises’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.71%.

About Werner Enterprises

Werner Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in interstate and intrastate commerce in the United States, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics.