Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Sells 1,870 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC trimmed its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 20.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,870 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 6.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,382,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 70.8% in the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 17,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 7,131 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $323,000. Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $3,493,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.9%

WRB opened at $76.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $72.18 and its 200-day moving average is $71.11. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.97 and a 1-year high of $77.31.

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

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WRB shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.