Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,940,000 shares, a growth of 19.4% from the October 15th total of 3,300,000 shares. Currently, 6.7% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 688,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Werner Enterprises

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WERN. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 4.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 65.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Werner Enterprises by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 252,504 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $9,047,000 after purchasing an additional 32,503 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 90.8% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 176,164 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,892,000 after buying an additional 83,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,506,663 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $53,984,000 after buying an additional 201,843 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Werner Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WERN traded down $0.59 on Friday, hitting $39.62. The company had a trading volume of 356,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 752,289. Werner Enterprises has a 1-year low of $33.12 and a 1-year high of $43.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.08, a P/E/G ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $765.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Werner Enterprises will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WERN shares. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Werner Enterprises from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.