Key Points
- Sumitomo Insurance purchased 20,000 shares of W.R. Berkley on Feb. 5 at an average price of $71.10 for about $1.422 million, increasing its stake to 56,438,656 shares (a 0.04% bump) as disclosed to the SEC.
- W.R. Berkley reported Q EPS of $1.13 (missing by $0.01) on $3.18 billion revenue; the stock trades near $70 with a market cap of $26.78 billion, a P/E of 15.8, and an annualized dividend of $0.36 (yield ~0.5%).
- Analysts are mixed but cautious: the consensus rating is Hold with a $69.67 price target, and several recent downgrades and target cuts have been issued.
W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui purchased 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.10 per share, for a total transaction of $1,422,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 56,438,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,012,788,441.60. This trade represents a 0.04% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.
W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.1%
Shares of WRB stock opened at $70.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.55 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $69.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.05. The stock has a market cap of $26.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37.
W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The business's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.
W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. 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 currently 8.09%.
Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,033,581 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,596,795,000 after acquiring an additional 309,828 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,921,114 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,143,256,000 after purchasing an additional 149,605 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at $682,816,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $599,271,000 after buying an additional 289,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $534,438,000 after buying an additional 577,873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. Argus dropped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.67.
Read Our Latest Research Report on W.R. Berkley
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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