Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $7.85 Million Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,494 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 19,641 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $7,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,542,919,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,752,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 35,572.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,219,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $155,660,000 after buying an additional 2,213,679 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,886,000 after buying an additional 1,224,363 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,754,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $193,137,000 after buying an additional 1,140,349 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WRB. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $62.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wolfe Research cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Argus downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. 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, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $69.69.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of WRB traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,765,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,861,626. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $26.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS 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 business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. W.R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.47%.

W.R. Berkley 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.