Wallington Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Wallington Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 3.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 308,444 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 9,421 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley comprises 2.7% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $20,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 140.0% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $62.00 price objective (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.31.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $71.32 on Monday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.47%.

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.