SG Americas Securities LLC Increases Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 23.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 425,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,094 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.11% of W.R. Berkley worth $28,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Stance Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 376.1% in the third quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 48,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after buying an additional 38,013 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $1,630,000. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,801,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 118,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,336,000 after purchasing an additional 18,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 105.4% in the fourth quarter. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 29,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 15,240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $70.12 on Thursday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $62.87 and a 1-year high of $78.96. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $66.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86, a PEG ratio of 3.26 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.10 dividend. 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 is 8.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Brean Capital cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.31.

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.