Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 250,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 20,892 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley owned 0.35% of Werner Enterprises worth $6,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.5% in the first quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL now owns 21,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Advantus Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 3.2% in the first quarter. Advantus Capital Management Inc now owns 5,730 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. State Treasurer State of Michigan boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.1% in the first quarter. State Treasurer State of Michigan now owns 18,175 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.3% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 15,243 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Mason Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.4% in the first quarter. Mason Street Advisors LLC now owns 21,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. 66.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ WERN) traded up 1.69% on Friday, reaching $30.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 35,242 shares. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.62. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.45 and a 12 month high of $32.45.
Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $519.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $521.63 million. Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 3.90%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post $1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 5th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 30th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a boost from Werner Enterprises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 25.45%.
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Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Investment Research cut Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 22nd. Vertical Research assumed coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Bank of America Corporation reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up from $25.00) on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Monday, July 10th. TheStreet raised Werner Enterprises from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, June 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Werner Enterprises currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.10.
In other news, CEO Derek J. Leathers sold 12,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.02, for a total transaction of $367,564.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 228,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,867,975.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Jim S. Schelble sold 7,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.50, for a total value of $221,073.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,631,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 34.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Werner Enterprises
Werner Enterprises, Inc is a transportation and logistics company. The Company is engaged in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in both interstate and intrastate commerce. It operates through two segments: Truckload and Werner Logistics. It provides logistics services through its Werner Logistics division.
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