Sepio Capital LP Trims Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Sepio Capital LP lessened its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 62.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,893 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 29,327 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 148.4% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 148.2% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WRB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.85.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $78.55 on Monday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.97 and a 1-year high of $78.96. The firm has a market cap of $29.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.