Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Short Interest Up 25.3% in June

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,520,000 shares, a growth of 25.3% from the May 31st total of 2,810,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 888,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days. Approximately 5.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on WERN shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 139.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the first quarter worth $43,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the first quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, Hills Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at $106,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $35.43 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.90. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $33.12 and a 1 year high of $47.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.80.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The firm had revenue of $769.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $788.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

Werner Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in interstate and intrastate commerce in the United States, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics.