Portside Wealth Group LLC Decreases Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Portside Wealth Group LLC lessened its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,668 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,217 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE WRB opened at $76.69 on Thursday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $55.97 and a one year high of $78.48. The company has a market cap of $29.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.82.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. 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 7.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.85.

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.