Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,250 shares during the quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 45.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 843 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $58.76. 181,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,803,730. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $43.58 and a 52-week high of $61.96. The company has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $58.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

About W. R. Berkley

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.