1832 Asset Management L.P. Sells 142,840 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• 1832 Asset Management L.P. reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 5.0%, resulting in ownership of approximately 2.69 million shares worth $191.5 million.
• W.R. Berkley recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09, reflecting a 0.5% annual yield and a payout ratio of 8.20%.
• Analysts have varying opinions on W.R. Berkley, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target around $72.54, while some brokerages upgraded the stock to "strong-buy".

1832 Asset Management L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,691,143 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 142,840 shares during the quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.71% of W.R. Berkley worth $191,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 121.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,949,573 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $172,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,565 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $357,368,000 after purchasing an additional 900,071 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 7,314.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 744,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $52,980,000 after purchasing an additional 734,474 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $47,812,000 after purchasing an additional 664,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,787,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $280,156,000 after buying an additional 632,578 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock traded down $0.4150 on Friday, reaching $72.0950. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,423,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,871,182. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.80 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The company has a market capitalization of $27.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $70.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.85.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.