BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Cuts Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lessened its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 73.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,707 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 21,196 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $3,542,919,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,033,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,596,795,000 after buying an additional 309,828 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,921,114 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,143,256,000 after buying an additional 149,605 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at about $682,816,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $435,752,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $69.33 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.09. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $62.87 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The stock has a market cap of $25.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.30.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued 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 payout ratio is currently 8.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $62.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Brean Capital cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $68.31.

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.