Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 6,834 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 9.7%, acquiring an additional 6,834 shares and bringing its total stake to 77,529 shares valued at approximately $5.7 million.
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price ranging between $73.00 and $87.00 from various analysts, indicating varying perspectives on the company’s future performance.
• W.R. Berkley's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $1.05, surpassing analyst expectations, along with a recent quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, reflecting a 0.5% yield.

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 9.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 6,834 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,997 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,237 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.69.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $77.61 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $29.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.42. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $78.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.67.

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

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

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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