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

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor 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 quarter.

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

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $57.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.76 and its 200-day moving average is $73.16. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $41.37 and a one year high of $61.28.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.70.

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.