W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 363 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,787,639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $838,808,000 after buying an additional 65,163 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $357,368,000 after buying an additional 900,071 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,539,691 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $180,724,000 after buying an additional 52,594 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,842,275 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $131,096,000 after buying an additional 160,017 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,822,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $129,697,000 after buying an additional 25,782 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 NYSE:WRB opened at $77.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $55.97 and a fifty-two week high of $78.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.67. The company has a market cap of $29.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. UBS Group set a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of W.R. Berkley to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.69.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.