JT Stratford LLC Reduces Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

JT Stratford LLC lowered its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 40.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,995 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,762 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Maridea Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.4% in the second quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.3% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 5,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,243,948,490. The trade was a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 9,933,862 shares of company stock worth $688,134,108. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.2%

WRB opened at $69.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $60.68 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.22.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho cut their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $69.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

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.