Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 864 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Freedom Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,394 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 864 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 148.2% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday. Truist Financial set a $84.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.77.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $75.01 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.15. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.97 and a twelve month high of $78.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $28.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

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.