Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. Acquires 15,240 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 105.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,240 shares during the quarter. W.R. Berkley accounts for about 0.9% of Citadel Investment Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $2,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth 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. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% in 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 increased its stake in 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 during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 394.1% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,757 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 17,354 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 7,559,987 shares of company stock worth $521,633,836 over the last quarter. 23.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $66.10 on Tuesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $62.63 and a one year high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.37.

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

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Brean Capital cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Argus decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.19.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.