Korea Investment CORP Reduces Stake in W. R. Berkley Co.

Korea Investment CORP has reduced its investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, as per its latest report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After selling 48,070 shares in this period, it now holds a total of 210,978 shares of the insurance company. This makes up approximately 0.06% of W. R. Berkley's total shares, which were valued at about $12,346,000 in the most recent filing.

Other institutional investors have also adjusted their positions in W. R. Berkley recently. Baxter Bros Inc. boosted its stake by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, increasing its holdings to 60,445 shares valued at $3,537,000 after adding 10,091 shares. FineMark National Bank & Trust also entered the stock market by buying a new stake in W. R. Berkley worth around $210,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC and Crowley Wealth Management Inc. also made new investments in the company valued at approximately $229,000 and $59,000, respectively. Additionally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its shares in W. R. Berkley by 1.5%, now owning 36,436,473 shares, worth around $2,132,262,000, after acquiring an extra 529,294 shares during the previous quarter. Altogether, institutional investors and hedge funds own about 68.82% of W. R. Berkley stocks.

Analyst Ratings for W. R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley has been featured in several recent analyst reports. On January 28th, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating with a price target of $63.00 for the company. Morgan Stanley began its coverage on W. R. Berkley on December 5th, setting an "equal weight" rating with a target of $65.00. Barclays raised its price objective from $50.00 to $52.00 while assigning an "underweight" rating. Conversely, Wells Fargo & Company increased its price target from $67.00 to $70.00 and provided an "overweight" rating. Recently, StockNews.com upgraded its recommendation from "hold" to "buy." Currently, one analyst rates the stock as a sell, six analysts suggest holding it, and seven analysts recommend buying it. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley holds an average rating of "Hold" and has an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

As of Monday, W. R. Berkley shares were priced at $71.21. The company presents a quick ratio and a current ratio of 0.36, and its debt-to-equity ratio stands at 0.34. W. R. Berkley recorded a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a high of $76.38. The stock's 50-day moving average is $61.70, while its 200-day moving average is $60.18. With a market capitalization of $27.00 billion, W. R. Berkley has a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings growth ratio of 1.56, and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley announced its earnings results on January 27th, reporting $1.13 earnings per share, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.18. The company’s net margin was 12.88%, and its return on equity reached 20.83%. Analysts project that W. R. Berkley will report an earnings per share (EPS) of 4.33 for this year.

Recent Dividend Announcement

W. R. Berkley has also declared a quarterly dividend, which was distributed on March 12th. Investors registered on March 3rd received a dividend of $0.08 per share, with an ex-dividend date also on March 3rd. This amounts to an annualized dividend of $0.32, resulting in a dividend yield of 0.45%. The company’s payout ratio currently stands at 7.34%.

About W. R. Berkley Corporation

W. R. Berkley Corporation serves as an insurance holding company, primarily focusing on commercial lines of insurance worldwide. Its operations branch into two segments: Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment involves underwriting commercial insurance, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.

Investment, Insurance, Stocks