Aberdeen Group plc Purchases 7,251 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 4.0%, acquiring an additional 7,251 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 190,613 shares valued at approximately $14 million.
• Despite mixed analyst ratings, W.R. Berkley received a $87.00 price objective from UBS Group, while TD Cowen downgraded it to a "hold" with a $78.00 price target.
• W.R. Berkley recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 8.20%.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 190,613 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,251 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.05% of W.R. Berkley worth $14,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.6% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,787,639 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $838,808,000 after buying an additional 65,163 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 21.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $357,368,000 after buying an additional 900,071 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,539,691 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $180,724,000 after buying an additional 52,594 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.5% in the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,842,275 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $131,096,000 after buying an additional 160,017 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,822,617 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $129,697,000 after buying an additional 25,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WRB. UBS Group set a $87.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.69.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $78.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.76. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.97 and a 1-year high of $78.48.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is 8.20%.

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.

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