Verition Fund Management LLC Invests $485,000 in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,573 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $485,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Werner Enterprises in the second quarter valued at $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 145.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 209.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,158 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WERN traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.64. 563,983 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,940. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business's fifty day moving average price is $38.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.50. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.30, a PEG ratio of 34.11 and a beta of 0.82. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $43.26.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 1.48%. The company had revenue of $745.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $765.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Werner Enterprises's quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on WERN shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.57.

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.