Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Shares Bought by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,186 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 2,687 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $1,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Werner Enterprises by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,168 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 20,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 53,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 10.8 %

Shares of Werner Enterprises stock opened at $24.66 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.02 and a twelve month high of $42.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.84 and a beta of 1.06.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.24). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $712.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $738.41 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WERN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Werner Enterprises currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.14.

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.