W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by Pullen Investment Management LLC

Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,107 shares during the quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,801,000. Prudential PLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 205.9% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,385,000 after acquiring an additional 46,125 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at $3,245,000. CHB Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at $2,880,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 49,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,875,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $58.16 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $43.20 and a 1 year high of $61.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $58.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.60.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.