Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 169,334 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Royal London Asset Management reduced its W.R. Berkley stake by 7.4%, selling 169,334 shares and retaining 2.12 million shares valued at approximately $149.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 68.82% of the insurer.
• W.R. Berkley reported quarterly EPS of $1.27, beating estimates of $1.08, while revenue reached $3.72 billion versus the $3.28 billion consensus estimate. Revenue increased 2.4% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share from $0.09, equating to a $0.40 annualized dividend and a 0.6% yield. Analysts remain cautious, with a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $70.94.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,115,249 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 169,334 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.57% of W.R. Berkley worth $149,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $2,801,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $65,233,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $1,630,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 634,244 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $43,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2,864.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 550,428 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,447,000 after buying an additional 531,863 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $68.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The firm's 50-day moving average is $71.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.87. The stock has a market cap of $25.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.85 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 Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Atlantic Securities set a $74.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Oppenheimer set a $70.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Evercore reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $70.94.

W.R. Berkley Profile

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.

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