MBB Public Markets I LLC Invests $355,000 in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• MBB Public Markets I LLC has acquired 4,984 shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation, valued at approximately $355,000, marking a new investment in the insurance provider during the first quarter.
• W.R. Berkley recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.09, representing a yield of 0.5%, up from the previous $0.08 per share.
• After reporting earnings of $1.05 EPS, W.R. Berkley has received mixed ratings from analysts, with price targets varying significantly across different financial firms.

MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position 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 SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,984 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.1%

WRB traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $73.88. 1,496,581 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,505,596. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $70.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.88. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.80 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is 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.