10,197 Shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Purchased by Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on WRB. Argus downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 1.0%

WRB opened at $72.08 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $62.87 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $70.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.70. The firm has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.21%.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.