Financial Strategies Group Inc. Purchases 40,007 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Financial Strategies Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 53.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,007 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley comprises approximately 1.4% of Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. BloombergSen Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the third quarter. BloombergSen Inc. now owns 762,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,251,000 after purchasing an additional 254,133 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,363,295 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,340,000 after purchasing an additional 439,853 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth about $239,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 91.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 14,109 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 6,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after buying an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of WRB opened at $59.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.