W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 2.5%, owning approximately 572,671 shares valued at $40.75 million as of the latest SEC disclosure.
• W.R. Berkley reported earnings of $1.05 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst estimates, and has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09 per share.
• Institutional investors now hold 68.82% of W.R. Berkley’s stock, with various hedge funds adjusting their positions in the company recently, reflecting strong investor interest.

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 572,671 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 13,934 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.15% of W.R. Berkley worth $40,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the fourth 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 period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $5,676,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $663,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 3.2% during the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 247,919 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $17,642,000 after buying an additional 7,702 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 43,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,531,000 after purchasing an additional 4,159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $70.75 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $70.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.31. 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 $26.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.80 and a twelve month 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. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

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.

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