Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC Buys New Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,921 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $85,853,000 after buying an additional 444,986 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,676,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 108,810 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,312,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.64.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $72.70 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $72.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $51.41 and a one year high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. W.R. Berkley's 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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