Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 994,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,871 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.26% of W.R. Berkley worth $70,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 79.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $68.15 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $51.41 and a 52 week high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

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.