Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Buys New Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,324 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $894,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 399.0% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 7,601 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $70.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.85. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $62.87 and a twelve month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 12.94%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up from $67.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 target price (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

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.