Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $23.85 Million Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its W.R. Berkley stake by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 84,400 shares and ending with 340,191 shares worth about $23.85 million.
• W.R. Berkley reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.30 versus the $1.13 estimate and revenue of $3.69 billion versus $3.18 billion expected, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $68.31, roughly in line with the stock’s recent trading level around $68.15.

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 340,191 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 84,400 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned approximately 0.09% of W.R. Berkley worth $23,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 22.3% during the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% during the third quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,364 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,007,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,328 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $68.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $25.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.60 and a 200 day moving average of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $62.87 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.00 to $71.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $62.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $68.31.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation NYSE: WRB is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company's product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WRB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.