W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Asset Management Group Inc.

Key Points

• Asset Management Group Inc. reduced its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 11.0%, owning 57,479 shares following the sale of 7,089 shares in the first quarter.
• W.R. Berkley reported $1.05 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.03, with revenue matching expectations at $3.10 billion.
• The company has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09, reflecting a positive change in its annualized yield to 0.5%.

Asset Management Group Inc. decreased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,479 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,089 shares during the quarter. Asset Management Group Inc.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth 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 purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6%

WRB stock traded down $0.4150 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.0950. 1,423,572 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,868,507. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.80 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $70.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.74. The company has a market cap of $27.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of 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 issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

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.