W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 23.5%, owning a total of 174,656 shares valued at approximately $12.83 million following the purchase of 33,280 shares in Q2.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.05, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.03, with revenue reaching $3.10 billion.
• W.R. Berkley declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share with a total annualized payout of $0.36, representing a yield of 0.5%.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 23.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 174,656 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,280 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $12,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,997 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 1st 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 period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 1st 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 period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $76.87 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.17. The stock has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.42. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $77.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, TD Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

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.

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