Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 10,487 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,487 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 140.0% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wolfe Research downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Argus lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $70.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.85. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $62.87 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

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.