William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 15,800 Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 735,695 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,800 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $26,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake 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 worth $152,195,000 after buying an additional 776,277 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 9.5% during 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 buying an additional 143,953 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 704,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,294,000 after buying an additional 23,498 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 12.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 435,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,804,000 after buying an additional 49,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 413,186 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,842,000 after buying an additional 43,528 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WERN opened at $30.24 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.23 and a 200-day moving average of $36.61. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.26 and a twelve month high of $42.48. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.98 and a beta of 0.85.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is 101.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WERN shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises presently has an average 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.