Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Has $8.02 Million Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 104,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,500 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $8,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $70.97 on Tuesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $60.68 and a twelve month high of $78.96. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.37.

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

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.09%.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 370,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have acquired a total of 8,822,032 shares of company stock worth $608,511,512 in the last quarter. 23.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.R. Berkley 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.