Confluence Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Confluence Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 946,290 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 85,462 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $63,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WRB. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,570 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,073,000 after purchasing an additional 5,316 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,467 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 55.0% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,948 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 5,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 81.4% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 51,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,635,000 after acquiring an additional 23,122 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $70.83.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.8%

WRB traded up $1.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $68.73. The stock had a trading volume of 433,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,299,724. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $25.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.28. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $62.87 and a one year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 12.94%.The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.21%.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W.R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that specializes in commercial property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. Through a group of operating units, the company provides coverage for businesses and organizations facing risks related to property damage, liability, workers’ compensation, transportation, professional services and other specialty exposures.

The company generally focuses on specialty and complex risks that may require tailored underwriting, industry expertise and customized policy structures.