W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stock Position Raised by Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD

Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD lifted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,065 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,189 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley makes up about 2.8% of Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $7,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, PFS Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $60.74 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $45.75 and a 1 year high of $61.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.18. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock 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 six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.