Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 3,852 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 2.9%, now holding 135,715 shares valued at $9.66 million.
• Analysts rate W.R. Berkley stock with one sell, ten hold, and three buy ratings, with a current consensus price target of $72.54.
• W.R. Berkley Corporation declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09, up from the previous $0.08, resulting in a 0.5% dividend yield.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,715 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,852 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $9,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WRB. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE WRB traded down $0.81 on Friday, reaching $70.75. The company had a trading volume of 3,939,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,152,673. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current 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 company's fifty day moving average is $70.70 and its 200-day moving average is $68.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. 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 positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.