Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases 10,585 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP has significantly increased its ownership in W.R. Berkley Corporation, purchasing an additional 10,585 shares and raising its total stake by 120.1%, valued at approximately $1.38 million.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.09, reflecting a yield of 0.5%, up from the previous dividend of $0.08.
• W.R. Berkley reported a better-than-expected earnings per share of $1.05 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates of $1.03, and posted revenue of $3.10 billion.

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 120.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,399 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,585 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE WRB opened at $72.0950 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $55.80 and a one year high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $27.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $70.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.74.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WRB. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.54.

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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