Vident Advisory LLC Increases Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC has significantly increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 179.2%, now owning 41,552 shares worth approximately $2.96 million.
• W.R. Berkley recently reported a Q2 EPS of $1.05, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a dividend increase, with an annual yield of 0.5%.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on W.R. Berkley, with ratings ranging from strong buy to sell, and a consensus rating of "hold" with an average price target of $72.54.

Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 179.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,552 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 26,671 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $2,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,950 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 95,623 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,596,000 after buying an additional 16,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $206,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. 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 note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. 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 research note on Friday, June 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $71.75 on Monday. 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 cap of $27.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.20. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.80 and a 1 year high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 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 analyst estimates 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 last year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company 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 was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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