Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 26,930 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 182.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,930 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.28.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of WRB opened at $59.22 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $46.48 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The stock has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.21%.

W. R. Berkley 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.