Amalgamated Bank Sells 2,039 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,039 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $4,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Intelligent Financial Strategies bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth $44,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $62,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.1 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $57.45 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.76 and its 200-day moving average is $73.00. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.37 and a fifty-two week high of $61.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.70.

About W. R. Berkley

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.