Baxter Bros Inc. Boosts Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Baxter Bros Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 12.9% during the second quarter, owning 82,961 shares valued at approximately $6.1 million.
• W.R. Berkley Corporation experienced a slight stock increase of 0.1% with shares opening at $77.81, reflecting a market capitalization of $29.51 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, making it a 0.5% yield with a dividend payout ratio of 8.20%.

Baxter Bros Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,961 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,503 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $6,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7.1% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 14,006 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 26.8% in the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,885 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 1,244 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 132.6% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,638 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 4,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth $343,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $87.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.69.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $77.81 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $72.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $78.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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