SteelPeak Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 29.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,667 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,356 shares during the quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $3,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,496,000 after acquiring an additional 16,450 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 133.5% in the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 18,022 shares in the last quarter. American Trust purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth $1,847,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $3,762,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $66.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.44. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $62.63 and a 1-year high of $78.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.09%.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 112,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. This represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 7,976,205 shares of company stock worth $550,898,409 over the last three months. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. Bank of America cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.25.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.