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Werner Rewards Shareholders With New Share Repurchase Authorization

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Key Takeaways

  • WERN is now authorized to repurchase up to 5 million shares, per the new share repurchase program.
  • Werner has been paying quarterly cash dividends to its shareholders every quarter since July 1987.
  • During the first half of 2025, WERN paid $17.32M in dividends and repurchased shares worth $55.56M.

In a shareholder-friendly move, Werner Enterprises, Inc. (WERN - Free Report) board of directors approved a new share repurchase program. Per the new program, WERN is now authorized to repurchase up to 5 million shares.

On approval of this new program, Werner’s board has withdrawn the earlier share repurchase authorization, which had almost 1.8 million shares remaining available for repurchase as of June 30, 2025 (unveiled during WERN’s second-quarter 2025 earnings release on July 29, 2025). The new authorization is expected to continue until the company’s board announces its withdrawal.

Apart from the share buyback announcement, Werner’s board also declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 14 cents per share. This dividend will be paid on Oct. 22, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Oct. 6, 2025. Werner has been paying a quarterly cash dividend to its shareholders every quarter since July 1987.

With the quarterly dividend of 14 cents per share (annualized 56 cents per share), WERN's dividend yield is currently pegged at 2.15%. The five-year dividend growth rate is 10.12%.

The aforesaid announcements reflect WERN’s intention to utilize free cash to enhance its shareholders’ returns.

Notably, WERN has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, which are encouraging. As a reflection of its shareholder-friendly stance, in 2022, WERN paid dividends of $32.1 million and repurchased shares worth $110.4 million. In 2023, WERN paid dividends of $34.20 million (did not repurchase any shares). In 2024, WERN paid dividends of $35.1 million and repurchased shares worth $67.1 million. During the first half of 2025, WERN paid $17.32 million in dividends and repurchased shares worth $55.56 million.

We believe such shareholder-friendly initiatives should boost investor confidence and positively impact thisZacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s bottom line. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

WERN's Share Price Movement

Shares of WERN have performed well on the bourse on July 12, 2025, closing the trading session at $27.54 per share, which is up 5.80% from the previous day's closing. The surge comes on the heels of the new share repurchase authorization announcement by WERN’s board of directors, reflecting investor confidence in the stock.

Shareholder-Friendly Moves Announced by Other Transportation Companies in 2025

WERN is not the only player from theZacks Transportation sector that has rewarded its shareholders with dividend payouts or share buyback programs in 2025.

To name a few, on July 16, 2025, Union Pacific Corporation’s (UNP - Free Report) board of directorsapproved a dividend hike of 3%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend to $1.38 per share ($5.52 annualized) from $1.34 ($5.36 annualized). The raised dividend will be paid on Sept. 30, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 29. The move reflects UNP’s intention to utilize free cash to enhance its shareholders’ returns. We would like to remind investors that UNP has paid dividends for 126 consecutive years.

On July 10, 2025,Ryder System, Inc.’s (R - Free Report) board of directors approved a dividend hike of 12%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend to 91 cents per share ($3.64 annualized) from 81 cents ($3.24 annualized). The raised dividend will be paid out on Sept. 19, 2025, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Aug. 18, 2025. The move reflects R’s intention to utilize free cash to enhance its shareholders’ returns.

R's latest dividend hike is the first increase since July 2024, implying the company’s confidence in its financial footing. This marks Ryder’s 196th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. Notably, Ryder has been making uninterrupted dividend payments for more than 49 years.


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