Coho Partners Ltd. Cuts Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Coho Partners Ltd. reduced its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 28.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 807,778 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 320,600 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley comprises about 3.5% of Coho Partners Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Coho Partners Ltd. owned about 0.21% of W.R. Berkley worth $57,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $73.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $51.41 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.30.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.64.

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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