Captrust Financial Advisors Has $2.53 Million Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,159 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $72.47 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $51.17 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $27.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on WRB shares. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.39.

W. R. Berkley 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.