W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stake Raised by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 49.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 516,303 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,919 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $30,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $72.47 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.73. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $51.17 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The company has a market capitalization of $27.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.