Janus Henderson Group PLC Decreases Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Janus Henderson Group PLC lessened its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 30.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,457,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,099,917 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $162,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 10,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,722 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 34,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,412,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $72.68 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The stock has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.63.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. 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%. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Argus downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. 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 research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Three equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price 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.