Townsend & Associates Inc Has $16.89 Million Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Townsend & Associates Inc lowered its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 250,801 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 39,125 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley makes up approximately 1.7% of Townsend & Associates Inc's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Townsend & Associates Inc owned about 0.07% of W.R. Berkley worth $16,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Inv LLC boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 0.9% during the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 31,962 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.3% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 254,931 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $18,141,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 107,746 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,667,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares during the period. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 18,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,345,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 33,221 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 5,932 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.42.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $72.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.65 and a 200-day moving average of $65.70. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $51.41 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The company has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.43.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.35%.

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.

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