Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,826 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,615 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 25.8% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 129.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 953 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 11.7% during the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 6,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,245 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $657,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.38.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $79.23 on Wednesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $55.50 and a 1 year high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $82.35 and its 200-day moving average is $78.03. The stock has a market cap of $20.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.60.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

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.