Royal Bank of Canada Sells 105,298 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 5.9%, now holding approximately 1.67 million shares worth $118.7 million.
• W.R. Berkley recently reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.08 to $0.09.
• Analyst ratings for W.R. Berkley vary, with Cantor Fitzgerald upgrading it to a "strong-buy" rating, while others have assigned hold ratings and set target prices ranging from $68.00 to $80.00.

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,668,434 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 105,298 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.44% of W.R. Berkley worth $118,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,615,565 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $52,980,000 after acquiring an additional 734,474 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $47,812,000 after acquiring an additional 664,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $71.96. 1,242,697 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,571,325. The company has a market capitalization of $27.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.41. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $70.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.55.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.