New Vernon Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• New Vernon Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 249.2% in Q1, acquiring 32,902 additional shares and totaling 46,103 shares worth approximately $3.28 million.
• W.R. Berkley reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.05, beating analyst estimates of $1.03, with a net margin of 12.32%.
• The company announced a dividend increase from $0.08 to $0.09 per share, translating to an annual yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 8.20%.

New Vernon Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 249.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,103 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 32,902 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley makes up about 4.4% of New Vernon Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. New Vernon Investment Management LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $3,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 7G Capital Management LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $7,049,000. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 179.2% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 41,552 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,957,000 after buying an additional 26,671 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $509,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 87.6% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 11,509 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 5,373 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $72.89. The stock had a trading volume of 373,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,898,350. 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 company has a market cap of $27.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.80 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The business's 50 day moving average price is $70.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.32.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 earned $1.04 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a $0.09 dividend. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

About W.R. Berkley

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.