Insider Selling: Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) COO Sells 1,418 Shares of Stock

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) COO Eric Downing sold 1,418 shares of Werner Enterprises stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $49,318.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,945,801.88. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WERN traded down $2.63 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $32.80. 1,170,431 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,334,452. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.02 and a 1-year high of $38.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.00 and a 200 day moving average of $29.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.04). Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.48% and a positive return on equity of 0.04%. The business had revenue of $737.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently -233.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WERN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,018 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 289.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 42.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Werner Enterprises by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

About Werner Enterprises

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.