First Trust Advisors LP Buys 1,789,653 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 1,361.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,921,152 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,789,653 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 3.20% of Werner Enterprises worth $56,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 40.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,266 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,794,752 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $111,601,000 after buying an additional 148,826 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 93,053.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 122,031 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,589,000 after buying an additional 121,900 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 36,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 8,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,239 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,565,000 after buying an additional 5,906 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $42.42 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.30. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -282.80, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.26. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.06 and a 12-month high of $47.49.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $730.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.50 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.28% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WERN. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore upgraded Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.62.

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.