Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 16,979 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH has decreased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 13.1%, selling 16,979 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 112,394 shares valued at approximately $7,915,000.
• W.R. Berkley recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.05 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.03, with total revenue reaching $3.10 billion.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, marking an increase from the previous $0.08 to provide an annualized yield of 0.5%.

Erste Asset Management GmbH lowered its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,394 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 16,979 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $7,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 121.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,949,573 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $172,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,565 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $357,368,000 after acquiring an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7,314.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 744,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $52,980,000 after acquiring an additional 734,474 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $47,812,000 after acquiring an additional 664,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,787,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $280,156,000 after acquiring an additional 632,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $72.5950 on Thursday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $70.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $55.80 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The company has a market cap of $27.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. 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 research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays upped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley 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.

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