Rhumbline Advisers Cuts Stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 179,891 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 19,215 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $4,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 289.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 42.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 6.9% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 1,147.3% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Werner Enterprises

Here are the key news stories impacting Werner Enterprises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner to a “Hold,” a modest improvement in analyst tone that could support the shares if other analysts follow. Wall Street Zen Upgrades Werner Enterprises to Hold
• Neutral Sentiment: Media outlets (TipRanks/InsiderTrades) flagged the insider transactions, increasing visibility and prompting short-term trading activity; coverage itself doesn’t change fundamentals. Top Werner Enterprises Executive Makes Attention-Grabbing Stock Move
• Negative Sentiment: COO Eric Downing sold two small blocks (1,428 shares on Feb. 19 at ~$35 and 1,418 shares on Feb. 20 at ~$34.78), reducing his stake by ~2.4%; filings show the sales totaled roughly $99k and left him with ~56k shares. The insider selling, coming after a recent earnings miss and amid mixed analyst coverage, likely triggered near-term selling pressure. Eric Downing Sells 1,418 Shares of Werner Enterprises Stock

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Werner Enterprises news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,428 shares of Werner Enterprises stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $49,980.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 57,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,007,740. The trade was a 2.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

WERN opened at $33.18 on Wednesday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.02 and a 12-month high of $38.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.10 and its 200 day moving average is $29.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.25, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.08.

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). The company had revenue of $737.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.51 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.48% and a positive return on equity of 0.04%. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

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

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.