iSAM Funds UK Ltd Invests $1.02 Million in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 14,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,023,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after buying an additional 3,013 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 399.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 7,601 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $68.15 on Thursday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $71.15 and its 200-day moving average is $68.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.28.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price target (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, June 12th. Oppenheimer set a $70.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $70.94.

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.