Magnetar Financial LLC Buys New Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by purchasing 7,156 shares valued at approximately $509,000 during the 1st quarter.
• W.R. Berkley recently reported an EPS of $1.05 for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $3.10 billion and a net margin of 12.32%.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 8.20%.

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,156 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $509,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE WRB traded up $0.28 on Wednesday, reaching $72.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,320,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,603,225. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.80 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The company's fifty day moving average is $70.39 and its 200-day moving average is $69.32.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date 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 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.