Meros Investment Management LP Makes New $2.21 Million Investment in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Meros Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 73,571 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,208,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $195,491,000 after purchasing an additional 90,480 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,791,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $99,782,000 after buying an additional 24,204 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,058,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $80,511,000 after buying an additional 165,233 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,750,034 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $82,529,000 after buying an additional 120,343 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,490,661 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $74,745,000 after buying an additional 22,075 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $43.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -287.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.26. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $45.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.48.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently -373.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WERN shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $36.17.

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.