Clearline Capital LP Buys 18,000 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Clearline Capital LP raised its stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 164,356 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Clearline Capital LP’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $4,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,429 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,614 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 1,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WERN. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $36.92.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 5.3%

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $39.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -265.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.69. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.06 and a 12-month high of $45.27.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $730.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $812.50 million. Werner Enterprises had a negative net margin of 0.28% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. Research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -373.33%.

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.