Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC Acquires 5,541 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 144.7%, purchasing an additional 5,541 shares, bringing its total to 9,370 shares valued at approximately $688,000.
• W.R. Berkley's stock posted $1.05 earnings per share, exceeding expectations, while the company reported revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, reflecting a 0.5% yield and a payout ratio of 8.20%.

Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 144.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,370 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 5,541 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,997 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.5% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.0% during the first 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. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.7% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.7% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,237 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $73.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.97 and a 52 week high of $78.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.61 and a 200-day moving average of $71.83.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $87.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.69.

W.R. Berkley Profile

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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