Short Interest in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Declines By 29.6%

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 17,506,059 shares, a drop of 29.6% from the December 15th total of 24,860,492 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,679,124 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.5 days. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,679,124 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $69.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $84.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.2%

WRB stock traded down $0.86 on Friday, reaching $67.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,279,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,263,809. The firm has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.19. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $56.86 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

Key Stories Impacting W.R. Berkley

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Sumitomo (Mitsui) has been buying sizeable blocks of WRB across Jan. 12–16, repeatedly increasing its stake with purchases at prices around the high-$60s; the purchases represent multi‑million dollar commitments and act as an insider vote of confidence. Mitsui Sumitomo buys Berkley (WRB) shares
• Neutral Sentiment: The purchases are all formally disclosed in SEC ownership filings, which confirm the trades and updated stake size but show each increase is under 1% individually; transparency reduces uncertainty but the moves are gradual. SEC ownership filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald trimmed its price target modestly while keeping an overweight stance, reflecting slightly lower upside from that analyst but continued support; other shops remain mixed, leaving consensus near the low‑$70s. Cantor Fitzgerald lowers expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Technicals and analyst mix are headwinds: WRB is trading below its 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages (~$72), and several analysts carry hold/underweight views or lower targets, which can cap near‑term upside despite insider buying.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $68.18 per share, for a total transaction of $20,454,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 53,261,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,631,369,342.72. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders bought a total of 4,454,916 shares of company stock worth $309,561,870 over the last three months. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.