W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stock Position Decreased by Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 754 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley accounts for 2.4% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. owned 0.06% of W. R. Berkley worth $13,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE WRB traded down $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.18. 59,168 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,780,186. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $45.30 and a 12 month high of $61.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.20 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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 stock 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 stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.