Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires New Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 130,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,116,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $43,000 after acquiring 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

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group set a $68.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $68.31.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $68.30 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $25.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.30. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $62.87 and a twelve month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

About W.R. Berkley

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.