iA Global Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 33.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,638 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,853 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Argent Trust Co boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 455.8% during the first quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 21,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,535,000 after buying an additional 17,686 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at approximately $98,000. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,131 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.75.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.7%

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $70.58 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.73. The firm has a market cap of $26.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.12 and a twelve month high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.