W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 7.2%, owning 69,265 shares valued at approximately $4.93 million as of the last reporting period.
• W.R. Berkley recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.05, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.03, with a net margin of 12.32%.
• The company declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, up from $0.08, reflecting a 0.5% yield and a payout ratio of 8.20%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,265 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,623 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.5% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the first quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,237 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 0.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,420 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,015,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. UBS Group lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.75.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $70.53. The company had a trading volume of 1,884,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,398,756. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $53.65 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The company's fifty day moving average is $71.40 and its 200-day moving average is $67.62. The company has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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