Key Points
- Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui bought 195,000 W.R. Berkley shares on Jan. 30 at an average price of $68.36 (≈$13.33M), raising its direct holdings to 56,103,435 shares—a 0.35% increase—according to an SEC filing.
- W.R. Berkley posted a slight Q4 EPS miss ($1.13 vs. $1.14 consensus) with revenue roughly in line, has a recent $971M shareholder return program plus a $0.09 quarterly dividend, but several analysts have cut targets and the consensus rating sits at "Reduce" (avg. target ~$70.43).
W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui purchased 195,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $68.36 per share, with a total value of $13,330,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 56,103,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,835,230,816.60. This trade represents a 0.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.
W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.4%
Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $68.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.39. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.07 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.
W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The company's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 8.09%.
Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WRB. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI set a $69.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $70.43.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on W.R. Berkley
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W.R. Berkley Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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