Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 17,269 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 288,829 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 17,269 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.48% of Werner Enterprises worth $7,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 17.2% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,893,705 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $79,172,000 after purchasing an additional 424,935 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,280,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,408,000 after acquiring an additional 110,468 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 745,147 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,387,000 after acquiring an additional 94,440 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 33.2% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 722,269 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,761,000 after acquiring an additional 180,178 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 49.1% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 704,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,283,000 after purchasing an additional 232,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WERN shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Evercore raised their price target on Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.14.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WERN opened at $33.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of -138.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.08. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.02 and a 52-week high of $38.45.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $737.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.51 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.48% and a positive return on equity of 0.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Company 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.