Raymond James Financial Inc. Cuts Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 3.4%, owning approximately $105 million worth of shares after selling 52,852 during the first quarter.
• Various hedge funds are increasing their investments, with stakeholders owning 68.82% of the company's stock and some purchasing stakes valued at $29,000 to $37,000 in the first quarter.
• W.R. Berkley has seen its stock rated with an average consensus of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.54, with recent earnings showing a positive $1.05 EPS that exceeded estimates.

Raymond James Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,479,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 52,852 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of W.R. Berkley worth $105,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. 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 report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.4%

WRB stock opened at $70.50 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.80 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.52. The firm has a market cap of $26.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

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.

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