National Pension Service Grows Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 600,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,451 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of W.R. Berkley worth $46,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth $34,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 691.9% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 195,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $68.36 per share, for a total transaction of $13,330,200.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 56,103,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,835,230,816.60. This represents a 0.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 7,296,847 shares of company stock worth $501,460,875 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $67.83 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.80 and its 200 day moving average is $72.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $25.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.07 and a 52-week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WRB. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Cowen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.