Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $8.38 Million Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,408 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,616 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $8,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,715,583,000 after acquiring an additional 625,685 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $599,271,000 after purchasing an additional 289,172 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $534,438,000 after purchasing an additional 577,873 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at $367,921,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.6% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,738,612 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $201,206,000 after buying an additional 121,045 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders purchased a total of 7,612,068 shares of company stock valued at $522,913,948 in the last quarter. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets cut W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 target price (down previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $71.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.35 and its 200 day moving average is $72.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.55 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 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.