Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Trims Stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lessened its position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) by 48.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,885 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 43,753 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned about 0.07% of Werner Enterprises worth $1,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WERN. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises during the third quarter worth $378,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1,732.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 15,298 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 14,463 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 43.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.8% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 362,786 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $14,000,000 after acquiring an additional 16,637 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 3.6% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 53,136 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WERN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "negative" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a "sell" rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Stephens decreased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.57.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Werner Enterprises stock opened at $38.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 33.21 and a beta of 0.80. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.12 and a fifty-two week high of $43.26. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $37.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.18.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.48% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The business had revenue of $745.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $765.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The company's revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.71%.

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.

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