Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 143,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,567 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $10,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 148.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5%

WRB opened at $74.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.97 and a 1-year high of $78.48. The company has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.52.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.46.

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.