7G Capital Management LLC Buys New Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• 7G Capital Management LLC made a new investment in W.R. Berkley Corporation, purchasing approximately 99,064 shares valued at $7.05 million, which represents about 6.0% of its portfolio.
• W.R. Berkley recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders with a current yield of 0.5%.
• According to recent earnings reports, W.R. Berkley posted earnings of $1.05 per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations, while also maintaining a strong return on equity of 18.83%.

7G Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 99,064 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,049,000. W.R. Berkley comprises 6.0% of 7G Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 121.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,949,573 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $172,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,565 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $47,812,000 after acquiring an additional 664,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth $44,210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock traded up $0.70 on Thursday, hitting $72.98. 312,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,898,134. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.32. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.80 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.54.

About W.R. Berkley

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.