W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC has increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 58.2%, acquiring 25,706 additional shares, resulting in total holdings valued at approximately $5.14 million.
• Institutional investors now own 68.82% of W.R. Berkley's stock, reflecting strong confidence among large players in the market.
• W.R. Berkley Corporation recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.05, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share.

Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,890 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 25,706 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,787,639 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $838,808,000 after buying an additional 65,163 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $357,368,000 after acquiring an additional 900,071 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,539,691 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $180,724,000 after acquiring an additional 52,594 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 9.5% during the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,842,275 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $131,096,000 after purchasing an additional 160,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,822,617 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $129,697,000 after purchasing an additional 25,782 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.69.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:WRB opened at $77.40 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $73.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.71. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $78.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $29.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WRB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.