Candriam S.C.A. Invests $1.41 Million in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Candriam S.C.A. bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,125 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,161,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 6.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,382,000 after buying an additional 4,336 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 70.8% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 17,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after buying an additional 7,131 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.9% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 100,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,750 shares during the period. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $323,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of WRB opened at $76.97 on Monday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $78.48. The stock has a market cap of $29.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.71. 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 (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Truist Financial set a $84.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.46.

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.