W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Aurora Investment Counsel

Aurora Investment Counsel cut its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,604 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,156 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $134,690,000 after acquiring an additional 898,027 shares during the period. Maren Capital LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $37,915,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 83.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,757,000 after purchasing an additional 535,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 190.4% in the first 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 period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Barclays started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $56.73 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $41.37 and a 52-week high of $61.28. The stock has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.01. 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 (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.