Comerica Bank Reduces Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Comerica Bank has reduced its stock position in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 16.6%, now holding 79,796 shares valued at approximately $5.68 million.
• W.R. Berkley recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.08 to $0.09 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.5%.
• Analysts have varied opinions on W.R. Berkley's stock, with one upgrade to "strong-buy" and several price target adjustments, reflecting an average target of $72.54.

Comerica Bank cut its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 16.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,796 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 15,827 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 121.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,949,573 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $172,609,000 after buying an additional 1,615,565 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $357,368,000 after buying an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 7,314.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 744,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $52,980,000 after buying an additional 734,474 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $47,812,000 after buying an additional 664,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $44,210,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,383,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,697,447. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $55.80 and a one year high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $70.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.20. The stock has a market cap of $27.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was 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 (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on 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.