Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Has $323,000 Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 71.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,107 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at about $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,690,000 after acquiring an additional 898,027 shares in the last quarter. Maren Capital LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,915,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 83.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,757,000 after purchasing an additional 535,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 190.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 477,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,254,000 after purchasing an additional 313,234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $57.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $41.37 and a 12-month high of $61.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

W. R. Berkley 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.