Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $7.61 Million Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. decreased its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,226 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $7,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at $44,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $65,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $57.45 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.76 and a 200-day moving average of $73.16. 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 twelve month low of $41.37 and a twelve month high of $61.28. The firm has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

About W. R. Berkley

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.