Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Cuts Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194,793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,450 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned about 0.05% of W.R. Berkley worth $13,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 22.3% in the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,328 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $68.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $66.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.86. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $25.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.81.

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.