UBS Group AG Purchases 372,629 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

UBS Group AG boosted its position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 180.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 578,761 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 372,629 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $17,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $195,491,000 after purchasing an additional 90,480 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 0.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,791,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $99,782,000 after purchasing an additional 24,204 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 5.7% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,058,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $80,511,000 after purchasing an additional 165,233 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,750,034 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $82,529,000 after purchasing an additional 120,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 5.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,404,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $63,287,000 after purchasing an additional 123,513 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

WERN opened at $34.12 on Wednesday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.06 and a 52-week high of $38.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -227.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.84.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.28% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The company had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $812.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. Werner Enterprises’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 13th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -373.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $35.15.

Insider Transactions at Werner Enterprises

In other Werner Enterprises news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,428 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,007,740. This trade represents a 2.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.