Carnegie Investment Counsel Invests $475,000 in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel has invested approximately $475,000 in W.R. Berkley Corporation by purchasing 6,670 shares in the 1st quarter.
• W.R. Berkley recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.09 per share, reflecting a 12.5% increase from the previous dividend rate of $0.08.
• Institutional investors now own 68.82% of W.R. Berkley's stock, with several firms significantly increasing their holdings in the company during the 4th quarter.

Carnegie Investment Counsel purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,670 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,676,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,787,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $663,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.6%

WRB opened at $68.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $71.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.20. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $52.64 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. Analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. 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. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.75.

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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