Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stock Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 174,842 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,869 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.29% of Werner Enterprises worth $4,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth approximately $12,972,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,893,705 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $79,172,000 after purchasing an additional 424,935 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 49.1% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 704,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,283,000 after purchasing an additional 232,149 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 33.2% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 722,269 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,761,000 after purchasing an additional 180,178 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 1,286.4% during the second quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 177,940 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,868,000 after purchasing an additional 165,105 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Werner Enterprises News

Here are the key news stories impacting Werner Enterprises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $39 and set an “equal weight” rating, signaling conviction in near‑term upside tied to execution and the company’s strategy. Wells Fargo raises PT
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its target to $39 and kept a “hold” rating, another vote that the stock has upside if integration and dedicated business growth play out. TD Cowen raises PT
• Positive Sentiment: Company commentary and the Business Wire release highlight growth in dedicated revenue and the strategic rationale for the FirstFleet acquisition, which management says should support longer‑term stable revenue. Company Q4 release
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 earnings call transcript is available for investors seeking detail on guidance, cost trends and fleet/dedicated integration plans — useful for assessing execution risk. Earnings call transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry coverage notes the FirstFleet buy is a strategic bet that could spark consolidation in dedicated trucking; outcome depends on scale and margin improvements. FirstFleet M&A context
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan cut its price target to $28 and moved to “underweight” — the most bearish broker action today and a major contributor to selling pressure. JPMorgan cuts PT
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating with a $34 target, keeping downside risk from some institutional desks.
• Negative Sentiment: Werner missed Q4 estimates: $0.05 EPS vs. $0.09 expected and revenue of ~$737.6M vs. $767.5M consensus — disappointing results that directly pressure the stock. Earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: News that a long‑running drivers’ lawsuit has a settlement ready raises potential cash/legal overhang and investor concern about contingency costs. Lawsuit settlement

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WERN shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $32.57.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

WERN opened at $34.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.83, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.96 and a 200 day moving average of $28.81. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.02 and a fifty-two week high of $38.45.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 5th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently -233.33%.

Werner Enterprises 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.