Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $16.52 Million Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 224,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,180 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of W.R. Berkley worth $16,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 32.7% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 23,253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 5,726 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 247,919 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,702 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 48.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 6,091 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.1%

WRB stock opened at $78.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.97 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 13.01%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $84.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.85.

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.