Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 2,152 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 83.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,722 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,152 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.1% during the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 563.4% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,196 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 66.2% during the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 16,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,663 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Agate Pass Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.4% in the third quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 37,758 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,142,000 after purchasing an additional 12,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $58.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $57.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.47. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $41.82 and a one year high of $61.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.31.

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.