J.M. Arbour LLC Takes Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

J.M. Arbour LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,142 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $781,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $35,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 370,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders purchased 5,478,946 shares of company stock valued at $378,572,238. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Argus lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.75.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of WRB opened at $66.29 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $63.67 and a 1-year high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $68.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.W.R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.09%.

W.R. Berkley 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.