IFM Investors Pty Ltd Decreases Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 946 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $3,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 8.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at $1,742,000. Wallington Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 264,971 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,434,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the period. Applied Capital LLC FL boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 19,497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,724,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 18.4% in the first quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 62,874 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 9,762 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock traded down $1.26 on Friday, hitting $76.65. 1,435,377 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,438,617. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $89.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.31. The firm has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.80%.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.