Erste Asset Management GmbH Boosts Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 43.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 111,337 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,618 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $7,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $1,128,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 579.6% in the fourth quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 5,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 4,469 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 13,885 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $66.76 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.73. The stock has a market cap of $24.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.30. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $62.87 and a 52 week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Argus cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday. Three equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.44.

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.