Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 3,654 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors LLC has increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 41.2%, owning 12,532 shares valued at approximately $892,000.
• Institutional investors currently hold 68.82% of W.R. Berkley, indicating significant interest in the company from the investment community.
• W.R. Berkley announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.08 to $0.09, representing an annualized yield of 0.5% and a low payout ratio of 8.20%.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 41.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,532 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 7,105 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,693 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 307.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 110,735 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,480,000 after buying an additional 83,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,119,322 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $182,544,000 after buying an additional 76,349 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB traded down $0.4150 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.0950. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,423,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,871,182. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $70.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.85. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.80 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The company has a market capitalization of $27.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. 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.