Hsbc Holdings PLC Trims Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC has reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 10.9%, now holding approximately 1,266,106 shares valued at nearly $90 million.
• Recent reports indicate that several hedge funds, including Brighton Jones LLC and Jefferies Financial Group, have modified their stakes in W.R. Berkley, suggesting shifting investor interest.
• Brokerages have upgraded their price targets for W.R. Berkley, with current consensus estimates indicating a price target of $72.54 and a general rating of "Hold."

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,266,106 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 154,926 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.33% of W.R. Berkley worth $89,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $5,676,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $663,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 247,919 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $17,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,702 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 43,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,531,000 after acquiring an additional 4,159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. 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 report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $72.5950 on Thursday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.80 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.57. The firm has a market cap of $27.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS 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. Investors 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 0.5%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is 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.

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