TD Asset Management Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

by · The Markets Daily

TD Asset Management Inc decreased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB – Free Report) by 53.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 188,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 216,992 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $13,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 35,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after buying an additional 3,256 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 28,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,139,000 after purchasing an additional 10,020 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 82,407 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,778,000 after purchasing an additional 35,531 shares during the period. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,201,848 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $154,394,000 after purchasing an additional 466,501 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Brean Capital downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.44.

Read Our Latest Report on WRB

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $66.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.30. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $62.87 and a one year high of $78.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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