Aberdeen Group plc Raises Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc significantly increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 114.9% in Q1, now owning 183,362 shares worth approximately $12.99 million.
• Multiple analysts have adjusted their ratings and price targets for W.R. Berkley, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising their target from $65 to $75 and UBS Group from $78 to $80.
• The company has declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.09 per share, demonstrating a growth from the previous $0.08 dividend and a yield of 0.5%.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 114.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 183,362 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 98,033 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $12,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group boosted 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.4%

WRB stock opened at $70.50 on Tuesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.80 and a 1-year high of $76.38. 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 company has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.52.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

W.R. Berkley 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WRB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.