Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Sells 8,307 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,862 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,307 shares during the quarter. W.R. Berkley comprises 2.2% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $10,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 109,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,680,000 after buying an additional 7,848 shares in the last quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. now owns 4,386 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,505,867 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $245,831,000 after buying an additional 906,100 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,033,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,596,795,000 after buying an additional 309,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 106,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,493,000 after buying an additional 5,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $66.48 on Friday. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $63.67 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.54.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 12.64%.The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders purchased 4,150,946 shares of company stock worth $289,060,858 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen raised W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.88.

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.