S Bank Fund Management Ltd Takes $333,000 Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,536 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,382,000 after buying an additional 4,336 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 70.8% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 17,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,131 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $323,000. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,493,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,386,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 3.6%

WRB stock opened at $73.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $73.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.81. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.97 and a 52 week high of $78.48. The company has a market capitalization of $27.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd 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 was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WRB. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of W.R. Berkley to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.69.

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.