W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by iSAM Funds UK Ltd

iSAM Funds UK Ltd increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 31.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,280 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,274 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:WRB opened at $73.47 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.42. The company has a market capitalization of $27.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $76.38.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. UBS Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.06.

About W. R. Berkley

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.