Mattern Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 73,590 W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Mattern Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 73,590 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,237,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. CHB Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. CHB Investment Group LLC now owns 50,557 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,598,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,842 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $73.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $51.41 and a 1 year high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during 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 anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 8.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays upped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.64.

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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