Amundi Sells 319,464 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 21.6%, selling 319,464 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with 1,158,468 shares valued at approximately $81.4 million.
• W.R. Berkley recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09, representing an annualized yield of 0.5% and a low dividend payout ratio of 8.20%.
• Analysts' ratings for W.R. Berkley show a consensus of "Hold" with a price target averaging $72.54, while its stock opened at $71.96 and has fluctuated between a 52-week low of $55.80 and a high of $76.38.

Amundi trimmed its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,158,468 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 319,464 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.31% of W.R. Berkley worth $81,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $5,676,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $663,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 247,919 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $17,642,000 after buying an additional 7,702 shares during the period. Finally, Tribune Investment Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth $2,135,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $71.96 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.80 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.55.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. On average, analysts predict 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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