Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) COO Eric Downing Sells 1,418 Shares

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) COO Eric Downing sold 1,418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $49,318.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,945,801.88. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

NASDAQ:WERN traded down $2.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $32.80. 1,170,431 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,334,452. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of -136.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.26. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $38.45.

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

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is -233.33%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 33.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,660 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 5,473 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 36,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,854 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,717,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,018 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 71,997 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 13,108 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.14.

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.