Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 7,314.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 744,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 734,474 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley accounts for 2.6% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.20% of W.R. Berkley worth $52,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. CHB Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. CHB Investment Group LLC now owns 50,557 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,598,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,842 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,235,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,795,629. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $51.41 and a 12-month high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. 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 8.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen cut shares of 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.00.

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.