Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Has $7.47 Million Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd reduced its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 25.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 36,922 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $7,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WRB. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Mizuho lowered their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Brean Capital cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at $4,243,948,490. The trade was a 0.19% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 2,183,798 shares of company stock worth $155,530,321. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $65.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.33. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $63.67 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.76.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

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.