W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Position Reduced by Keb Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Keb Asset Management LLC has reduced its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 48.3% to 9,974 shares, valued at approximately $710,000.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC and Garde Capital Inc., have recently initiated new positions in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for W.R. Berkley show a mix of opinions, with one sell rating, ten hold ratings, and two buy ratings, reflecting an average target price of $71.75.

Keb Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 48.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,974 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 9,311 shares during the quarter. Keb Asset Management LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of WRB stock traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $70.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,282,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,271,839. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50 day moving average is $71.06 and its 200-day moving average is $67.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current 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 announced its 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WRB. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.75.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.