Faithward Advisors LLC Purchases 21,473 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Faithward Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 184.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,095 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,473 shares during the quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $2,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1,641.6% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 139,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,760,000 after purchasing an additional 131,195 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 46,445 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,257,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,365,000. Mariner LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 80.7% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 116,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,194,000 after purchasing an additional 52,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 72,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,136,000 after purchasing an additional 7,869 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WRB. Argus lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Brean Capital lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.31.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $68.03 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.38. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

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.