Torray Investment Partners LLC Sells 23,624 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Key Points

• Torray Investment Partners LLC has reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 9.7%, now holding 220,089 shares, which constitutes 2.3% of its total holdings.
• W.R. Berkley Corporation recently reported an EPS of $1.05 for the quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue matching expectations at $3.10 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, an increase from the previous $0.08, reflecting a 0.52% yield.

Torray Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 220,089 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 23,624 shares during the quarter. W.R. Berkley comprises about 2.3% of Torray Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Torray Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.06% of W.R. Berkley worth $15,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,722,476 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $685,999,000 after buying an additional 116,957 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $449,168,000 after buying an additional 103,350 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $357,368,000 after buying an additional 900,071 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,787,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $280,156,000 after buying an additional 632,578 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,553,016 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $266,442,000 after acquiring an additional 231,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.75.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $69.24. 2,236,973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,286,907. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $53.65 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $71.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.44.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 12.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.