iSAM Funds UK Ltd Invests $1.02 Million in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,023,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Nykredit A S bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,526,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 98.5% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 358,749 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,303,000 after acquiring an additional 178,050 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7.4% in the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 8,858 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 0.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,110,733 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $78,633,000 after acquiring an additional 7,401 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, August 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $68.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $70.94.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $68.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $25.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.80. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $62.87 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.