Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Purchases New Holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 60,019 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,316,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WERN. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 390.1% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. 89.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WERN shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “sell” rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.57.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 1.2 %

Werner Enterprises stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $37.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 62,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,814. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.74. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $43.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $760.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.81 million. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 4.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.57%.

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.