Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 30,812 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,654 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,812 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $6,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 30,464 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 0.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,854 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,717,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 0.8% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 64,228 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 1.1% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 57,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised 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 valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $35.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Werner Enterprises news, COO Eric J. Downing sold 1,418 shares of Werner Enterprises stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $49,318.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,945,801.88. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ WERN opened at $39.97 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of -266.47, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.24. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $40.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $730.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $812.50 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.28% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently -373.33%.

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.