16,780 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Bought by Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,780 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $982,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third 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. PFS Partners LLC raised its holdings 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. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $59.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.56. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. The stock has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Barclays upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.