Hilltop Holdings Inc. Acquires New Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 38,718 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,967,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 8.9% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,496,000 after purchasing an additional 16,450 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $401,607,000 after buying an additional 242,546 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 133.5% in the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after buying an additional 18,022 shares during the period. American Trust purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,847,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,762,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WRB. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 370,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 9,933,862 shares of company stock worth $688,134,108. Insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.4%

WRB opened at $68.51 on Tuesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.63 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.35.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

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.