Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $2.79 Million Position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 77,696 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,791,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.13% of Werner Enterprises as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WERN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,730,457 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $241,758,000 after acquiring an additional 32,228 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,987,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,380,000 after purchasing an additional 234,811 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,010,000 after purchasing an additional 143,953 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,634,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 735,695 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,426,000 after buying an additional 15,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.07.

Werner Enterprises Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:WERN opened at $28.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.80. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.50 and a 1-year high of $42.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.98 and a beta of 1.06.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 101.82%.

About Werner Enterprises

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.