Financial Strategies Group Inc. Sells 6,064 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Financial Strategies Group Inc. reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 5.1%, now holding 113,263 shares valued at $7.74 million.
• W.R. Berkley recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09, a slight increase from the previous dividend of $0.08, representing an annualized yield of 0.5%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on W.R. Berkley, with one recommending a Strong Buy while others suggest a Hold or Sell, maintaining a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $72.54.

Financial Strategies Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,263 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,064 shares during the quarter. W.R. Berkley accounts for approximately 1.8% of Financial Strategies Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Financial Strategies Group Inc.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $7,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Teza Capital Management LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 139.8% during the 1st quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 9,284 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 5,413 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 37,646 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. NatWest Group plc increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 131.8% during the 1st quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 232,393 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 132,130 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 60.1% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 826,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $58,822,000 after purchasing an additional 310,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenline Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at $1,375,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price 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, July 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. 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 Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $72.31. 1,445,803 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,536,164. The firm has a market cap of $27.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's fifty day moving average is $70.36 and its 200 day moving average is $69.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $55.80 and a one year high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

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.