W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Boston Financial Mangement LLC

Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 47.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 987,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 316,269 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley comprises 1.7% of Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Boston Financial Mangement LLC owned 0.26% of W. R. Berkley worth $56,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 264,971 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,742,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $249,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $58.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $43.58 and a 1-year high of $61.96. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

W. R. Berkley 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.