Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 8.7%, now owning 49,179 shares valued at $3,500,000.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.36.
• W.R. Berkley reported earnings per share of $1.05 for the last quarter, slightly surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.03.

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,179 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,956 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $3,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 2.0%

W.R. Berkley stock traded up $1.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.42. 1,803,700 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,935,716. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.80 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.39. The business's 50-day moving average price is $70.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 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.