W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Acquired by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,708 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ethic Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 38.1% in the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 45,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 12,640 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 17.2% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,499 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 0.3% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 85,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,162,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 0.7% during the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 270,524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 144.7% during the second quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 9,370 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 5,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $75.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $78.48. The company has a market capitalization of $28.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Truist Financial set a $84.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.77.

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.