Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 47.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,973 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 133,746 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $4,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Wyoming increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 12,758 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.4% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 210,659 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,764,000 after buying an additional 14,478 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises during the second quarter worth $240,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 0.8% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 64,228 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 1,147.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,020 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 7,377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WERN. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. 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 report on Friday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $26.93.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WERN opened at $30.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 73.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 1.08. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.02 and a 12-month high of $38.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

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

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.