Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Buys 153,000 Shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui acquired 153,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.67 per share, with a total value of $10,965,510.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 58,375,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,183,755,887.58. The trade was a 0.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $71.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.22. The stock has a market cap of $27.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $60.68 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.09%.

Key W.R. Berkley News

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Sumitomo/Mitsui made several purchases this week (multiple filings show buys of 153,000 and 147,000 shares at roughly $71.6–$71.7 per share), signaling increased insider/institutional conviction; the recent disclosed buys total roughly $21M across filings. InsiderTrades Alert
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple news outlets and SEC filings confirm the purchases and show Mitsui Sumitomo increasing a very large base position — buying by a >10% owner is often interpreted by the market as a stabilizing/positive signal for the stock. Investing.com Article
• Neutral Sentiment: W.R. Berkley recently declared a small quarterly dividend ($0.09/share; $0.36 annualized, ~0.5% yield) with a low payout ratio — likely supportive but not a major catalyst given the small yield. Yahoo Finance
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst actions remain mixed-to-cautious: several firms have trimmed price targets and TD Cowen notably cut WRB to a sell with a much lower $55 target — these downgrades cap upside and may keep some traders sidelined. The company also posted a small quarterly EPS miss in late January. MarketBeat Coverage

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WRB. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore set a $69.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Argus lowered their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,542,919,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $682,816,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $435,752,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6,503.1% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,561,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $188,174,000 after buying an additional 2,601,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 35,572.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,219,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $155,660,000 after buying an additional 2,213,679 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.