Weiss Asset Management LP Buys Shares of 36,496 Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 36,496 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $1,408,000. Weiss Asset Management LP owned approximately 0.06% of Werner Enterprises as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Werner Enterprises during the third quarter valued at $630,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $14,000,000 after acquiring an additional 16,637 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 84,085 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,245,000 after purchasing an additional 19,944 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 98,550 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 16,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Werner Enterprises by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 879,371 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $31,455,000 after purchasing an additional 348,154 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on WERN shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Werner Enterprises in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "negative" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.57.

Werner Enterprises Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:WERN traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.37. 370,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 578,888. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.12 and a 52 week high of $43.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.93, a PEG ratio of 33.89 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's 50 day moving average is $38.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.43.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last released its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $765.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.71%.

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.