Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Makes New Investment in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Silver Oak Securities Incorporated has acquired 9,392 shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation worth approximately $690,000, according to their recent SEC filing.
• The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.03, and has a current market capitalization of $27.85 billion.
• W.R. Berkley has announced a dividend of $0.09 per share, with a yield of 0.5%, set to be paid on September 30th.

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 3.5% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 12,340 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $201,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 55,276 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,987 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 3,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 109.7% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,686 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,695,000 after buying an additional 27,042 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:WRB opened at $73.43 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $70.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.35. The company has a market capitalization of $27.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.80 and a 1-year high of $76.38.

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

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

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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