17,729 Shares in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Purchased by Dark Forest Capital Management LP

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 17,729 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $637,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,168 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in Werner Enterprises by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 20,216 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 53,495 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,761 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WERN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $34.00 to $27.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.07.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of WERN traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.66. 1,421,164 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 804,425. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.29 and a beta of 1.06. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $42.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.78 and a 200-day moving average of $34.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.24). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. The company's revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Analysts expect that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.82%.

About Werner Enterprises

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.