Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New $523,000 Investment in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,573 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Werner Enterprises by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WERN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Werner Enterprises in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Werner Enterprises from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Werner Enterprises from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Werner Enterprises from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Werner Enterprises Trading Up 1.1 %

WERN opened at $29.57 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.76 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a one year low of $28.77 and a one year high of $42.48.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.15). Werner Enterprises had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 1.13%. Analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Werner Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.82%.

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.