W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Stake Lowered by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its stake in W.R. Berkley by 48.3%, selling 2,533,657 shares and retaining 2,707,852 shares worth about $189.9 million per its latest SEC filing.
• W.R. Berkley beat quarterly expectations with $1.30 EPS vs. $1.13 forecast and revenue of $3.69 billion vs. $3.18 billion, while analysts project roughly 4.63 EPS for the year.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Reduce" with an average price target of $68.81 after several firms cut price objectives and assigned mostly Hold/Underperform ratings.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 48.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,707,852 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,533,657 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.71% of W.R. Berkley worth $189,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $68.81.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3%

WRB stock opened at $66.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $63.67 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.33.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. The trade was a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 2,321,794 shares of company stock worth $165,220,160 in the last three months. 23.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation NYSE: WRB is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company's product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.

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