Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 4,575 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 4.7%, now owning 92,754 shares valued at approximately $6.6 million.
• W.R. Berkley recently reported $1.05 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.03, with revenue matching forecasts at $3.10 billion.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09 per share, reflecting a positive change in its dividends for shareholders.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,754 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,575 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $6,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,787,639 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $838,808,000 after purchasing an additional 65,163 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $357,368,000 after buying an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,279,690 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $191,927,000 after buying an additional 560,370 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,949,573 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $172,609,000 after buying an additional 1,615,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,487,097 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $145,545,000 after buying an additional 455,311 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of WRB traded up $0.51 on Friday, reaching $71.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,383,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,740,099. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.80 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.45 and a 200-day moving average of $69.15.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has an average 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.