Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 96,988 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,676,000.
Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $982,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $560,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 119,327 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,766,000 after buying an additional 4,363 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.
W. R. Berkley Stock Performance
W. R. Berkley stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,293,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,768,201. The firm's fifty day moving average is $68.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.19. The company has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.
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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.42%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently commented on WRB. Barclays lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.39.
View Our Latest Research Report on W. R. Berkley
W. R. Berkley Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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