Pinebridge Investments LLC Makes New Investment in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,083 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,128,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America cut 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. Brean Capital downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.44.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $66.76 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.73. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $62.87 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $24.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.30.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its 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. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. 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. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.