Empower Advisory Group LLC Buys 3,599 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,599 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 59.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 194,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,190,000 after acquiring an additional 72,574 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 6.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,132 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $59.65 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.06. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.44 and a 12-month high of $61.96. The firm has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued 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 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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 note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.