Nuance Investments LLC Sells 331,299 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Nuance Investments LLC cut its holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,612,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 331,299 shares during the quarter. Werner Enterprises accounts for about 5.2% of Nuance Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Werner Enterprises worth $129,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 3rd quarter worth about $378,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Werner Enterprises during the third quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 6.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 680,673 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,267,000 after purchasing an additional 43,074 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 431.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 20,049 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 16,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 171.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,743 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 7,422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $29.97 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 54.49 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.52. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.77 and a fifty-two week high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. On average, equities analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.82%.

About Werner Enterprises

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.