Simon Quick Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 3,347 W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 46,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,395,000 after purchasing an additional 12,679 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 59,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,388,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 100,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,750 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 81.9% during the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,484 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $71.78 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.39. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $78.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group set a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.46.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.