Adalta Capital Management LLC Buys 6,375 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Adalta Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 610.0%, acquiring an additional 6,375 shares, bringing its total holdings to 7,420 shares valued at approximately $528,000.
• W.R. Berkley announced a quarterly dividend hike, paying a $0.09 dividend per share, up from the previous $0.08, reflecting a 0.5% annual yield.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on W.R. Berkley, with one strong buy, two buys, nine holds, and one sell, alongside a consensus price target of $72.54.

Adalta Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 610.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,420 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 6,375 shares during the quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $838,808,000 after buying an additional 65,163 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $357,368,000 after buying an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,487,097 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $145,545,000 after buying an additional 455,311 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $131,096,000 after buying an additional 160,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $129,697,000 after buying an additional 25,782 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $71.96 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.40 and a 200-day moving average of $69.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.80 and a 1 year high of $76.38.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. 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 yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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