Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases 38,544 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,460,342 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,544 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $52,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,268,348 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $96,110,000 after buying an additional 812,563 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,420,141 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $272,021,000 after acquiring an additional 565,193 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,973,767 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $168,369,000 after purchasing an additional 282,210 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the fourth quarter worth $10,302,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth about $8,855,000. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WERN shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI decreased 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Werner Enterprises in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.75.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of WERN opened at $36.81 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.33. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $43.62.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.03). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $760.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.81 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Werner Enterprises’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 7th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Werner Enterprises 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.