Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Position Reduced by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 333,237 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 38,950 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $11,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after acquiring an additional 143,953 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Werner Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at $2,791,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 672.8% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 75,632 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 65,845 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 435,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,804,000 after acquiring an additional 49,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 413,186 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $14,842,000 after acquiring an additional 43,528 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 1.1 %

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $29.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.76 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.45. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.77 and a 52 week high of $42.48.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 101.82%.

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.