Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 148,752 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 922,779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 148,752 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.24% of W. R. Berkley worth $72,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WRB. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $57.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $56.68 and its 200 day moving average is $73.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $41.37 and a 52 week high of $61.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.