Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Reduces Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 13.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,394 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 22,345 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $10,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,715,583,000 after purchasing an additional 625,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,921,114 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,143,256,000 after buying an additional 149,605 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $682,816,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $534,438,000 after acquiring an additional 577,873 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Argus lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, March 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 112,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 9,525,512 shares of company stock valued at $659,778,305 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $65.76 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $62.63 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.28 and a 200 day moving average of $71.94. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.35.

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

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

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.