Ieq Capital LLC Purchases 16,138 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC increased its shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 56.4% during Q1, bringing its total holdings to 44,757 shares valued at approximately $3.2 million.
• W.R. Berkley reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.05 for the last quarter, beating consensus estimates by $0.02, with revenues of $3.10 billion.
• The company also announced an increase in its quarterly dividend, raising it from $0.08 to $0.09, reflecting a 0.5% yield on an annualized basis.

Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 56.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,757 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,138 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $3,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.4%

WRB traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $72.56. 665,045 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,900,114. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities 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 issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 8.20%.

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.