National Wealth Management Group LLC Makes New Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

National Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,921 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 78,050 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 24,090 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $410,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 59.8% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 3,688 shares during the period. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 64.4% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 3,338 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

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

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. 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 firm posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

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.