Nuance Investments LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Nuance Investments LLC reduced its position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 87.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 189,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,330,580 shares during the quarter. Werner Enterprises comprises about 1.4% of Nuance Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $8,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 30,464 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.3% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.8% during the 2nd 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. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 57,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,560,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WERN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Stephens upgraded Werner Enterprises to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Werner Enterprises from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.54.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WERN opened at $39.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.46, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.82. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.06 and a 1-year high of $47.49.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $813.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.12 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 1.18% and a negative net margin of 1.42%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. Analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -73.68%.

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.