Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp reduced its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,508 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,389 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,633,000 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. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $2,878,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 28,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 14,933 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 577,245 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,823,000 after buying an additional 112,011 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 47,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,346,000 after acquiring an additional 14,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 249.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 386,933 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,364,000 after acquiring an additional 276,242 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $58.75 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $41.37 and a twelve month high of $61.28. The firm has a market cap of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.42 and a 200-day moving average of $55.40.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.67.

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.