Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires New Holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 69,448 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,029,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,854 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,717,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 64,228 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Werner Enterprises by 1.1% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 57,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,560,000 after buying an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 21.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Evercore raised shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.54.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 4.0%

WERN stock opened at $40.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.68, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.12. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $47.49.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $813.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.12 million. Werner Enterprises had a positive return on equity of 1.18% and a negative net margin of 1.42%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Monday, October 5th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is -73.68%.

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.