Janus Henderson Group PLC Decreases Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Janus Henderson cut its W.R. Berkley stake by 30.9% in the first quarter, selling 1,099,917 shares and retaining 2.46 million shares worth approximately $162.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 68.82% of the insurer.
• W.R. Berkley reported quarterly earnings of $1.27 per share, beating estimates of $1.08, while revenue rose 2.4% year over year to $3.72 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share, or a 0.6% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus “Reduce” rating and a $70.94 price target, despite some upward target revisions. Shares recently traded at $72.68, with a market capitalization of about $27.1 billion.

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,457,890 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,099,917 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.66% of W.R. Berkley worth $162,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 399.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 7,601 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $72.68 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.86 and a 200 day moving average of $68.63. The stock has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WRB. Weiss Ratings lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial upped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $77.00 price target (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $70.94.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation NYSE: WRB is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company's product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.

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