Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP significantly reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 76.5% during the 1st quarter, leaving it with 121,840 shares valued at approximately $8.67 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, marking an increase from the previous $0.08, with a payout ratio of 8.20%.
• Despite recent adjustments in ratings from various analysts, the stock has an average target price of $72.54 and has seen mixed sentiment, with one strong buy rating and nine hold ratings.

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 76.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,840 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 397,182 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $8,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alpha Family Trust bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $227,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 41.2% in the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,532 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 19.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,013 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 24.6% in the first quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 49,877 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,549,000 after buying an additional 9,833 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $71.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.95. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.80 and a 12-month high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.

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