Insider Selling: Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) COO Sells $49,318.04 in Stock

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) COO Eric Downing sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $49,318.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,945,801.88. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 1.6%

WERN opened at $32.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -136.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.08. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.37. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.02 and a twelve month high of $38.45.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $737.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.51 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 0.04% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.Werner Enterprises’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently -233.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Werner Enterprises

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WERN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,514,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $195,491,000 after buying an additional 90,480 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Werner Enterprises by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,791,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $99,782,000 after acquiring an additional 24,204 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,058,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $80,511,000 after acquiring an additional 165,233 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,750,034 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $82,529,000 after purchasing an additional 120,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 605.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,510,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $75,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154,428 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WERN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $33.14.

About Werner Enterprises

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.