4,559 Shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Bought by Heartland Bank & Trust Co

Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,559 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $272,582,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $98,446,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 121.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,949,573 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $172,609,000 after buying an additional 1,615,565 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $89,691,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $47,812,000 after buying an additional 664,266 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.64.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $73.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $27.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.43. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $51.41 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.31.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 7.42%.

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.

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