Entropy Technologies LP Lowers Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP has significantly reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 76.4%, holding 8,332 shares worth $593,000 after selling 27,034 shares during the first quarter.
• W.R. Berkley reported earnings of $1.05 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.03, with a revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter.
• W.R. Berkley has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.36 and a yield of 0.5%.

Entropy Technologies LP decreased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 76.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,332 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 27,034 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth $83,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,635 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 5,460 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.7% in the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 49,179 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 3,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.2% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 66,550 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,736,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.75. 3,939,336 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,944,616. The business's fifty day moving average price is $70.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.80 and a 52 week high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) 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 18.83%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

About W.R. Berkley

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.