Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 6,194 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 372,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 6,194 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.60% of Werner Enterprises worth $14,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 390.1% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 740 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WERN shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Werner Enterprises in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “negative” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.57.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

WERN opened at $38.97 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 53.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 33.51 and a beta of 0.80. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.12 and a 1 year high of $43.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. The company had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $765.24 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.71%.

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.