IFM Investors Pty Ltd Purchases 3,827 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,305 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,827 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $0.39 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,874,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,889. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $51.41 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $72.82 and its 200 day moving average is $66.24. The stock has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.75.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.