Johnson Financial Group Inc. Sells 846 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Johnson Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 618 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 846 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $45,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 204,253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,006,000 after acquiring an additional 40,872 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 17.9% during the second quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 4,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $176,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, October 27th. Truist Financial set a $84.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.85.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of WRB opened at $78.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.08. The stock has a market cap of $29.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $55.97 and a 12 month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 13.01%.The business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.56%.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.