Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Takes $3.90 Million Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 54,888 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,898,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $3,542,919,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,752,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 35,572.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,219,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $155,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,213,679 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $105,639,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $95,040,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Argus cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $70.94.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $69.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $25.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.92. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $62.87 and a 52-week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 12.94%.The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

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.