W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Stake Boosted by Waverly Advisors LLC

Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRBFree Report) by 1,115.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 57,557 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,801,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,233,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,630,000. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 105.4% during the 4th quarter. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 29,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 15,240 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 634,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,125 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research cut W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Argus lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $62.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $70.94.

View Our Latest Stock Report on WRB

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $76.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $62.87 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRBGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

W.R. Berkley Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

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