W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Maren Capital LLC

Maren Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 49.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 536,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 527,355 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley accounts for approximately 2.0% of Maren Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Maren Capital LLC owned approximately 0.14% of W.R. Berkley worth $37,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,007,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Argus lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen raised W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Brean Capital lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore restated an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, March 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.31.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $68.15 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.60 and its 200-day moving average is $68.45. The company has a market cap of $25.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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