Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 63,478 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 13.5%, owning a total of 533,190 shares worth approximately $37.9 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on W.R. Berkley, with price targets ranging from $68.00 to $80.00 and a consensus average target of $71.75, indicating predominantly a "hold" rating.
• W.R. Berkley recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.08 to $0.09 per share, reflecting positive earnings performance and a low payout ratio of 8.20%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 533,190 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 63,478 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.14% of W.R. Berkley worth $37,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.75.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.8%

WRB stock opened at $70.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.39. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.80 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.06 and a 200-day moving average of $67.94.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

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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