Invst LLC Invests $1.23 Million in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Invst LLC recently purchased 17,330 shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation, totaling about $1.23 million, indicating growing institutional interest in the insurance provider.
• W.R. Berkley's shares have seen varying ratings from analysts, with a recent consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $72.54.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share to be paid on September 30th, representing a 0.5% dividend yield.

Invst LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,330 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,233,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,386,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 399.0% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 7,601 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 13.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2,129.9% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 18,196 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 17,380 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. TD Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $1.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.68. 543,308 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,890,861. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.80 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The company has a market cap of $27.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $70.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.07.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

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.