Cromwell Holdings LLC Buys 285 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 49.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $4,801,000. Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 205.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,385,000 after acquiring an additional 46,125 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,245,000. CHB Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,880,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 25.6% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 49,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,875,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $58.16 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $43.20 and a 52-week high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. 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 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

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.