W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 48.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,303 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 6.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $246,000. Financial Strategies Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 62,874 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,265,000 after purchasing an additional 9,762 shares during the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 19,497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wallington Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.4% in the first quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 264,971 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,434,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $58.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $43.20 and a 52-week high of $61.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.60. 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, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

About W. R. Berkley

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.