Avanza Fonder AB Increases Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Avanza Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 46.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,117 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,810 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $2,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,496,000 after acquiring an additional 16,450 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 133.5% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 18,022 shares during the last quarter. American Trust purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $1,847,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at about $3,762,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.67.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders acquired 8,868,939 shares of company stock valued at $613,578,412 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $65.01 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $62.63 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.W.R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.09%.

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.