Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,280,000 shares, a decrease of 20.0% from the January 31st total of 4,100,000 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 651,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.18. 356,035 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 707,268. Werner Enterprises has a 1 year low of $30.90 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.54 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.27 and its 200 day moving average is $37.05.

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

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.82%.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 32,228 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 24.5% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,943,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $152,195,000 after buying an additional 776,277 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in Werner Enterprises by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,121,696 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,211,000 after buying an additional 19,370 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,987,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,380,000 after buying an additional 234,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,660,846 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,010,000 after buying an additional 143,953 shares during the period. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WERN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Susquehanna raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.29.

Werner Enterprises Company 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.