Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,280,000 shares, a decline of 20.0% from the January 31st total of 4,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 651,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 5.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WERN. Susquehanna raised Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WERN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,730,457 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $241,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,228 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 24.5% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,943,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $152,195,000 after buying an additional 776,277 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,121,696 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,211,000 after buying an additional 19,370 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,987,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,380,000 after acquiring an additional 234,811 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,010,000 after acquiring an additional 143,953 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Werner Enterprises stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.18. 356,035 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 707,268. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 56.54 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.27 and its 200-day moving average is $37.05. Werner Enterprises has a 12-month low of $30.90 and a 12-month high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.82%.

Werner Enterprises Company 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.