W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Holdings Lifted by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 835,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,138 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $65,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,439,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,161,417,000 after purchasing an additional 195,763 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $213,635,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,041,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $144,371,000 after acquiring an additional 39,594 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 89.2% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $134,690,000 after purchasing an additional 898,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,797,235 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $127,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,973 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $57.81 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $41.37 and a 12-month high of $61.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $57.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.70.

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.