Coho Partners Ltd. Has $29.72 Million Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Coho Partners Ltd. reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 387,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 293,301 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley makes up approximately 3.8% of Coho Partners Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Coho Partners Ltd. owned about 0.10% of W.R. Berkley worth $29,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Allstate Corp increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 47.1% in the first quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 15,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 4,848 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 12.6% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,242 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,041 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, ICONIQ Capital LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $222,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Mizuho set a $67.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.93.

Trending Headlines about W.R. Berkley

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Sumitomo/Mitsui bought roughly 204k shares (several trades Dec. 18–22) at ~$69–70 per share, spending about $42M and increasing its stake by ~0.4% — a vote of confidence from a large, strategic holder that likely helped push WRB higher today. Mitsui Sumitomo buys Berkley (WRB) shares worth $42.5 million
• Neutral Sentiment: Company recently declared a small quarterly dividend ($0.09; $0.36 annualized, ~0.5% yield) with a Dec. 29 payment date — income-focused but not a material catalyst given the low yield. This is consistent with a capital-return policy that emphasizes buybacks/underwriting strength. W.R. Berkley stock — MarketBeat
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed: consensus rating is essentially “Hold” with an average price target near $73.93 (several holds/neutral ratings and a range of targets). That tempers upside expectations despite insider buying and recent earnings beats. Analyst ratings and targets — MarketBeat

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $70.13 on Tuesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.56 and a 200-day moving average of $72.62.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The company had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.56%.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 204,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $69.38 per share, for a total transaction of $14,177,803.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 48,805,938 shares in the company, valued at $3,386,155,978.44. This represents a 0.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 610,350 shares of company stock valued at $42,548,323. 23.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.R. Berkley Profile

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.