MBB Public Markets I LLC Makes New $1.16 Million Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 14,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,157,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.0% in the first quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.8% in the first quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its position 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 buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $56.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.99 and a 200-day moving average of $72.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $41.37 and a 1 year high of $61.28.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

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.