Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Acquires 2,035 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 57.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.0% in the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,478,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 39,857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,132,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $64.94 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

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.