Brandes Investment Partners LP Cuts Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Brandes Investment Partners LP trimmed its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 817,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 170,844 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $57,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $682,816,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $435,752,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,363 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,754,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $193,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,233,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $68.44.

More W.R. Berkley News

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: W.R. Berkley continues to emphasize shareholder returns, with recent commentary highlighting dividend growth and share repurchases as the company returns excess capital while maintaining strong profitability. W. R. Berkley Delivers Long-Term Value Through Capital Returns
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research nudged up some longer-term earnings forecasts, including higher FY2028 EPS estimates, which can support confidence in the company’s profit outlook. W.R. Berkley analyst estimate updates
• Neutral Sentiment: W.R. Berkley also announced the passing of founder William R. Berkley at age 80, an important corporate event but not an immediate change to earnings or operations on its own. Company announcement on the passing of William R. Berkley
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst estimate changes were mixed, with a slight increase in Q1 2028 and FY2028 forecasts but small reductions in FY2027 and Q3 2027 estimates, leaving the overall near-term outlook broadly unchanged. W.R. Berkley analyst estimate updates
• Negative Sentiment: The founder’s death may create some uncertainty around succession and continuity at a company long associated with his leadership, which could pressure the stock if investors focus on governance risk. Reuters article on W.R. Berkley passing away

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $67.09 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.66. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $62.87 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.30.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

About W.R. Berkley

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.