ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Buys Shares of 8,547 W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation, purchasing 8,547 shares valued at approximately $608,000.
• Several other institutional investors have also increased their holdings in W.R. Berkley, with 68.82% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• W.R. Berkley recently declared a quarterly dividend, increasing from $0.08 to $0.09 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.36 and a yield of 0.5%.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,547 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $1.41 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,803,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,935,550. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.39. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $55.80 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $70.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.12.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. 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.