Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $1.27 Million Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 52.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,368 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,728 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.4% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,478,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,436 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $61.26 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $41.82 and a one year high of $61.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.16 and a 200 day moving average of $55.52. The company has a market capitalization of $23.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion for 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%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. 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. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.64.

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.