LRT Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,464 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 7,751 shares during the quarter. LRT Capital Management LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WRB. Amundi increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $982,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $560,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $6,766,000 after buying an additional 4,363 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
W. R. Berkley Stock Up 2.3%
NYSE:WRB traded up $1.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $72.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,237,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,767,059. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.17 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business's 50 day moving average is $68.07 and its 200 day moving average is $62.95. The stock has a market cap of $27.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.42%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.39.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on W. R. Berkley
W. R. Berkley Profile
(
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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