Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 9.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 581,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 48,617 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.15% of W.R. Berkley worth $42,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 148.4% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Truist Financial set a $84.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research started coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.46.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $75.71 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.55. The company has a market cap of $28.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $55.97 and a one year high of $78.48.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

About W.R. Berkley

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.