Townsend & Associates Inc Increases Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Townsend & Associates Inc increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 285,349 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,875 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley comprises approximately 1.7% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $16,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.0% in the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,478,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 39,857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,132,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during 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. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $60.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $23.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $44.88 and a 1-year high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.