Griffin Asset Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 2.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 51,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,493 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $3,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $357,368,000 after acquiring an additional 900,071 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4,198.9% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 777,201 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $55,306,000 after acquiring an additional 759,122 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7,314.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 744,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $52,980,000 after acquiring an additional 734,474 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,210,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 60.1% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 826,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,822,000 after acquiring an additional 310,313 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $77.61 on Monday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $55.97 and a one year high of $78.43. The stock has a market cap of $29.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $87.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.69.

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.