Aristides Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Aristides Capital LLC purchased 23,000 shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation, valued at approximately $1.6 million, indicating institutional interest in the insurance provider.
• W.R. Berkley's dividend increased from $0.08 to $0.09 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.36 and a yield of 0.5%.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for W.R. Berkley, with the average target now at $72.54, highlighting a mix of ratings including one Strong Buy and an overall consensus rating of Hold.

Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in 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 bought 23,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,637,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,693 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 41,709 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $520,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 18,365 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.7%

WRB traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.75. 1,383,915 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,913,780. The company's fifty day moving average price is $70.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $55.80 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen lowered 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, Barclays increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

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.