W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Holdings Raised by Waverly Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Waverly Advisors increased its W.R. Berkley stake by 1,115.9% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 62,715 shares valued at approximately $4.16 million. Institutional investors collectively own 68.82% of the insurer.
• Analysts remain cautious, with a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $70.94. Recent firms including Bank of America, Barclays and Wolfe Research maintained or issued bearish views.
• W.R. Berkley exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.27 in EPS versus a $1.08 estimate and $3.72 billion in revenue. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share, equivalent to a 0.5% annual yield.

Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 1,115.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,715 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 57,557 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,542,919,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,033,581 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,596,795,000 after acquiring an additional 309,828 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,921,114 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,143,256,000 after acquiring an additional 149,605 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,752,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,913,337 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $344,523,000 after purchasing an additional 20,538 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $68.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $62.00 price objective (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wolfe Research lowered W.R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $68.00 target price (up from $67.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $70.94.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.7%

WRB stock opened at $76.23 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The firm has a market cap of $28.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation NYSE: WRB is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company's product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.

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