W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.

Key Points

• Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d'investissement inc. reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 33.3%, holding 10,517 shares valued at $773,000 after selling 5,242 shares in the second quarter.
• The company reported earnings of $1.05 per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.03, and had a revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter.
• A recent quarterly dividend of $0.09 was announced, representing an annualized yield of 0.5%, with a dividend payout ratio of 8.20%.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. reduced its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,517 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 5,242 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 148,880 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $8,712,000 after purchasing an additional 5,222 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $580,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 161,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $9,452,000 after purchasing an additional 59,694 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 6,136 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 1,929 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $73.08 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $70.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.09. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $55.80 and a one year high of $76.38. The firm has a market cap of $27.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.41.

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

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given 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 an average price target 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.

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