SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 210.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,043 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 34,594 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Werner Enterprises worth $1,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WERN. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 76,426 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 13,782 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,280,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,408,000 after purchasing an additional 110,468 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 59.5% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 179,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,908,000 after purchasing an additional 66,927 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 49.1% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 704,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,283,000 after purchasing an additional 232,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 5,633 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WERN. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $30.57.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $33.14 on Friday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.02 and a 1 year high of $38.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.18. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.83, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.07.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.18). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.85% and a return on equity of 0.14%. The company had revenue of $712.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 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, January 21st. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.59%.

Werner Enterprises Profile

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.