Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 59.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 311,018 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 116,225 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned 0.08% of W.R. Berkley worth $20,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $72.09 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $62.87 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.22.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its 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. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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, June 8th. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Brean Capital downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $68.31.

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.