Pensionfund Sabic Invests $1.25 Million in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Pensionfund Sabic bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,850 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,252,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Argus lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore restated an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, March 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

Insider Activity

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 8,868,939 shares of company stock worth $613,578,412. Corporate insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.8%

WRB stock opened at $65.01 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $62.63 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.84.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

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.