California State Teachers Retirement System Trims Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 19.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 309,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 73,915 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $20,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 399.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 7,601 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $72.68 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $62.87 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.86 and its 200 day moving average is $68.63. The company has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Argus downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $62.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $70.94.

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.