Andra AP fonden Sells 158,593 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Andra AP fonden cut its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 89.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,907 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 158,593 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $68.00 target price (up from $67.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $70.44.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $73.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $27.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.40. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $62.87 and a 1-year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a positive change 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 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.21%.

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.