Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases 66,927 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 59.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 179,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,927 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.30% of Werner Enterprises worth $4,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WERN. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 76,426 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 13,782 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,280,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,408,000 after purchasing an additional 110,468 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 25.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 5,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.3% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 36,784 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN stock opened at $30.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.83, a P/E/G ratio of 15.88 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $26.80 and its 200 day moving average is $27.49. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $38.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.18). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.85% and a return on equity of 0.14%. The business had revenue of $712.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $763.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 136.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WERN. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $26.71.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

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.