Mattern Capital Management LLC Buys 7,630 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 10.4%, acquiring an additional 7,630 shares, bringing its total holdings to 81,220 shares valued at approximately $5.97 million.
• The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.03, with revenues matching forecasts at $3.10 billion.
• W.R. Berkley recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 8.20%.

Mattern Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 10.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,220 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,630 shares during the quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,787,639 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $838,808,000 after purchasing an additional 65,163 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $357,368,000 after buying an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,539,691 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $180,724,000 after buying an additional 52,594 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.5% during the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,842,275 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $131,096,000 after buying an additional 160,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,822,617 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $129,697,000 after buying an additional 25,782 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $76.21 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $76.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business's 50-day moving average price is $72.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.02. The stock has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. TD Cowen downgraded 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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, Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

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.

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