Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,200 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 399.0% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 7,601 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 691.9% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $72.09 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $62.87 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.22. The stock has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.31.

About W.R. Berkley

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.