Heartland Bank & Trust Co Decreases Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Heartland Bank & Trust Co cut its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,396 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,382,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 70.8% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 17,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,131 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $323,000. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth about $3,493,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of WRB opened at $77.40 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $55.97 and a 12 month high of $78.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.71. The firm has a market cap of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. Analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research began coverage on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.69.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.