Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. Buys 812,800 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 146.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,366,167 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 812,800 shares during the period. Werner Enterprises comprises about 1.2% of Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. owned about 2.28% of Werner Enterprises worth $59,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WERN. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Werner Enterprises during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $128,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WERN. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Werner Enterprises from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Evercore upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.54.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $39.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.55, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.83 and a 200-day moving average of $37.00. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $47.49.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $813.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.12 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 1.18% and a negative net margin of 1.42%.The firm’s revenue was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 5th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -73.68%.

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.