Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 661 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley comprises 1.3% of Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 95,968 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,616,000 after buying an additional 3,615 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $573,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 59,245 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,467,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $303,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WRB. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 2.4 %

WRB opened at $61.34 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.35.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

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.