Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Increases Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 55.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 33,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,808 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $2,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Argus lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $68.69.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $71.29 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

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.