Argent Trust Co Boosts Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth approximately $65,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.1 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $57.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.16. The company has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.37 and a fifty-two week high of $61.28.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

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.