Private Trust Co. NA Reduces Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Private Trust Co. NA trimmed its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,242 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth about $333,000. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 261,115 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,057 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 183,766 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,501,000 after purchasing an additional 20,665 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 259,625 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,075,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.69.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $73.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.42. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $78.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.86.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.