Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 900,071 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 21.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 900,071 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.32% of W.R. Berkley worth $357,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 1.0%

WRB traded up $0.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $71.49. 1,422,342 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,777,817. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.80 and a 200 day moving average of $65.95. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $51.41 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a $0.09 dividend. This is a boost 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.42.

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.