W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 76.4%, bringing its holdings to 4,367 shares worth approximately $311,000.
• Several analysts have revised their price targets for W.R. Berkley, with Barclays setting a new target of $66.00, while UBS raised theirs to $80.00 and maintained a "buy" rating.
• W.R. Berkley announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, with a scheduled payment date of September 30th, reflecting an annual yield of 0.5%.

Inspire Investing LLC lessened its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 76.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,367 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,165 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 191.1% in the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 847 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB traded up $0.33 on Friday, reaching $73.43. 3,377,319 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,556,391. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $55.80 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.24. The firm has a market cap of $27.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. TD Cowen downgraded 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 report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted 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 note on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from 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.