Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 8,538 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 24.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,987 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,538 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $3,542,919,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $435,752,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,213,679 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 70.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,754,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $193,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140,349 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $71.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.48 and a 200 day moving average of $68.75. The company has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.36 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. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 12.94%.The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.10 dividend. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. 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%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Atlantic Securities set a $74.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Mizuho increased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $70.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus 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.