Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 15.4%, selling 16,442 shares and leaving it with 90,618 shares worth approximately $6.66 million.
• W.R. Berkley recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.36 and a yield of 0.5%.
• Brokerage reports show mixed ratings for W.R. Berkley, with an average target price of $72.54 and a consensus rating of "Hold."

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 15.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,618 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 16,442 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $6,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at $41,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded 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 report on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $0.33 on Friday, reaching $73.43. 3,377,319 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,910,271. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.70 and a 200-day moving average of $70.16. 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 cap of $27.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.80 and a 1-year high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm 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 firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 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.