Cerity Partners LLC Has $52.43 Million Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 73.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 747,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 316,842 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $52,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WRB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in 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 increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 399.0% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 7,601 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: W.R. Berkley continues to emphasize shareholder returns, with recent commentary highlighting dividend growth and share repurchases as the company returns excess capital while maintaining strong profitability. W. R. Berkley Delivers Long-Term Value Through Capital Returns
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research nudged up some longer-term earnings forecasts, including higher FY2028 EPS estimates, which can support confidence in the company’s profit outlook. W.R. Berkley analyst estimate updates
• Neutral Sentiment: W.R. Berkley also announced the passing of founder William R. Berkley at age 80, an important corporate event but not an immediate change to earnings or operations on its own. Company announcement on the passing of William R. Berkley
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst estimate changes were mixed, with a slight increase in Q1 2028 and FY2028 forecasts but small reductions in FY2027 and Q3 2027 estimates, leaving the overall near-term outlook broadly unchanged. W.R. Berkley analyst estimate updates
• Negative Sentiment: The founder’s death may create some uncertainty around succession and continuity at a company long associated with his leadership, which could pressure the stock if investors focus on governance risk. Reuters article on W.R. Berkley passing away

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Weiss Ratings cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Argus cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.44.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $67.09 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $62.87 and a one year high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.49 and its 200 day moving average is $68.66. The firm has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.30.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

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.