New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 11,273 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 257,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,273 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $17,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Stance Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 376.1% in the third quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 48,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,687,000 after buying an additional 38,013 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $2,801,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $1,630,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 118,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,336,000 after acquiring an additional 18,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 105.4% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 29,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,082,000 after acquiring an additional 15,240 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $72.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.22. The stock has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 3.41 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 current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Brean Capital downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.31.

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.