American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 123,513 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 5.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,404,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,513 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $63,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 69.4% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 33,930 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 13,900 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the third quarter valued at about $1,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 29.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,620,000 after acquiring an additional 22,761 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 5.1% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 75,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 233,369 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,142,000 after buying an additional 22,710 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ WERN opened at $34.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -143.83, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.54 and its 200 day moving average is $29.61. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $38.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 13th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -233.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Werner Enterprises news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $49,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 57,364 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,740. The trade was a 2.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays raised 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.14.

Werner Enterprises Company 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.