Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Boosts Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 84.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,284 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,715 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $58.21 on Wednesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $44.88 and a 52-week high of $61.96. The stock has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.34 and a 200 day moving average of $55.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 11.96%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given 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.

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.