Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 29.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,918,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 789,472 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $127,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,542,919,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $435,752,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,213,679 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,224,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,754,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $193,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 2.9%

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $69.91 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $62.87 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Brean Capital lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $69.94.

About W.R. Berkley

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.