First Eagle Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 404,048 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 34,200 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 0.65% of Werner Enterprises worth $14,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 121,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,364,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 672.8% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 75,632 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 65,845 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Werner Enterprises by 68.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 25,694 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 10,396 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 115,842 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,161,000 after purchasing an additional 31,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth $2,791,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of WERN opened at $29.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.38 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.70. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.26 and a twelve month high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WERN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Susquehanna raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Werner Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Werner Enterprises 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.