Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 84,400 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 340,191 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 84,400 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $23,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $682,816,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $435,752,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 35,572.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,219,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $155,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,213,679 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 33.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $374,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,363 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 70.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,754,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $193,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140,349 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.2%

WRB stock opened at $68.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.30. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $62.87 and a one year high of $78.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.31.

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.