Claro Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,987 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,801,000. Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 60,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 20,250 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 92,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,252,000 after purchasing an additional 30,833 shares during the period. Prudential PLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 205.9% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,385,000 after purchasing an additional 46,125 shares during the period. Finally, Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,245,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $60.74 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $45.75 and a 52-week high of $61.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

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.