Brooklyn Investment Group Takes Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of 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 in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $64.57 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.87. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

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.