Romano Brothers AND Company Increases Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,237 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,439,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,161,417,000 after acquiring an additional 195,763 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,553,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $593,584,000 after purchasing an additional 54,530 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,698,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $197,838,000 after purchasing an additional 92,242 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $160,128,000 after buying an additional 139,588 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.4% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,929,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,654,000 after buying an additional 26,464 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $59.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.60. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $43.20 and a 12 month high of $61.96. The firm has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. 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 (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.