KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 4,500 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 4.3%, owning a total of 109,379 shares valued at approximately $8,036,000 at the end of the last quarter.
• W.R. Berkley reported $1.05 earnings per share for the latest quarter, surpassing consensus estimates, with a net margin of 12.32% and a revenue of $3.10 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 8.20%.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 109,379 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $8,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st 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 approximately $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $77.53 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.97 and a 1-year high of $78.40. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $72.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released 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 analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $87.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen cut 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 note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.69.

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.

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