Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,477 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,546 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 486 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 297.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, James Investment Research Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. James Investment Research Inc. now owns 676 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.66% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $57.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $56.04 and a 12 month high of $76.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.56 and its 200 day moving average is $67.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 17.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 8th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $75.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.64.

W. R. Berkley Profile

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W.R. Berkley Corp. is an insurance holding company, which engages in the property casualty insurance business. It operates through the following segments: Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment includes excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines throughout the United States, as well as insurance businesses in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, South America, Canada, Mexico, Scandinavia, Asia, and Australia.