Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Sells 8,003 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 624,209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,003 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley accounts for approximately 7.4% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $47,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position 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 worth $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 399.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 7,601 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.4% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,980 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.5% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,409 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Sumitomo Insurance increased its WRB stake with multiple purchases (roughly 98k shares across filings, ~ $6.8M at reported prices), nudging ownership above 56.5M shares — insider buying at these levels is a bullish signal for investor sentiment. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presented at the Bank of America Financial Services Conference; the transcript offers detail on underwriting, reserves and capital deployment — useful for assessing forward outlook but not an immediate catalyst by itself. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS maintained a Hold rating on WRB, signaling analysts are not yet upgrading despite insider buying — this may limit analyst-driven upside in the near term. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent media pieces are re‑examining WRB’s valuation after a strong multi‑year run, which can increase short‑term volatility as investors debate upside vs. current multiples and consensus earnings growth. Read More. Read More.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $71.72 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.55 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $27.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WRB. Argus cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 370,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 7,730,064 shares of company stock worth $531,163,987 in the last quarter. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

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.