W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 44.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,647 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $62,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $63.63 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $45.75 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.82 and its 200-day moving average is $57.14.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on 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. Truist Financial boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.22.

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.