Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,886 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 140.0% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $66.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.73. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The stock has a market cap of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.30.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.44.

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.