Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB – Free Report) by 30.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,752 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,037 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. First Manhattan Co. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during the first quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 486 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 549.0% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 662 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 66.34% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.00.
W. R. Berkley Price Performance
WRB opened at $62.43 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.12 and a 200 day moving average of $60.95. The stock has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $76.99.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 26th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is a positive change from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.67%.
About W. R. Berkley
W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writer in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including premises operations, commercial automobile, property, products liability, and general and professional liability lines.
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