49,090 Shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Acquired by Sciencast Management LP

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP has made a significant investment in W.R. Berkley Corporation, acquiring 49,090 shares valued at approximately $3.49 million.
• W.R. Berkley recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09, reflecting a positive change in its financial strategy.
• Analysts have varied opinions on W.R. Berkley, with ratings ranging from Strong Buy to Sell, and an average target price of $72.54.

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 49,090 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,493,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $357,368,000 after acquiring an additional 900,071 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7,314.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 744,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $52,980,000 after acquiring an additional 734,474 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $47,812,000 after buying an additional 664,266 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth $44,210,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,487,097 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $145,545,000 after purchasing an additional 455,311 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays upped their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $73.88. 1,496,569 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,888,146. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $55.80 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.44 and a 200 day moving average of $69.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.41.

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, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 8.20%.

About W.R. Berkley

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.