Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Acquires Shares of 27,000 W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA has acquired 27,000 shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation, valued at approximately $1,984,000, enhancing its stake in the insurance provider during the 2nd quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their holdings in W.R. Berkley, reflecting growing interest in the stock.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, representing a 0.5% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 8.20%.

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 27,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,984,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 376.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 63,750 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,731,000 after acquiring an additional 50,361 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 641.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,654 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $47,812,000 after acquiring an additional 664,266 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,720 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $76.65 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $76.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $71.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.91.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. Analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. TD Cowen downgraded shares of 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WRB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.