W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,677 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 28,573 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 148.4% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 148.2% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $77.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $29.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company’s fifty day moving average is $75.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.92.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WRB. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Three 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. Based on 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.