abrdn plc Acquires 105,488 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 497,430 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 105,488 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.80% of Werner Enterprises worth $19,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 390.1% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 740 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

WERN stock opened at $36.89 on Friday. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $43.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $37.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.75.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.07). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 4.70% and a net margin of 1.99%. The company had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.50.

Werner Enterprises 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.