Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 728,744 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,439 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of W.R. Berkley worth $55,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 96,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,395 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $553,000. American Trust bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,847,000. Czech National Bank grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,382,000 after buying an additional 4,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 100,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,393,000 after buying an additional 3,750 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 230,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $69.19 per share, with a total value of $15,913,700.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 52,726,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,648,146,811.76. This trade represents a 0.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 3,919,916 shares of company stock valued at $272,916,370. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $69.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $64.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

More W.R. Berkley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Sumitomo (Mitsui) bought large blocks of WRB over Jan. 12–14 (approximately 811,041 shares in total), spending roughly $55.6M aggregate — a clear insider vote of confidence that increases their stake and signals long-term support. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple filings confirm the buys (SEC ownership filing shows the purchases and updated stake size); these are disclosed increases of less than 1% each but cumulatively meaningful for share count. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald trimmed its price target from $78 to $76 but kept an “overweight” rating — a modest reduction in upside but still a positive stance from that analyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Technicals and analyst mix may be weighing on the stock: WRB is trading below its 50- and 200-day moving averages (~$72) and analyst coverage remains mixed (average target near $73, several holds and a few underweights), creating limited near-term upside despite insider buying.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $68.71 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.00 and its 200 day moving average is $72.23. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.86 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39.

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

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.56%.

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.