Bellevue Asset Management LLC Buys 4,513 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Bellevue Asset Management LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,513 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley accounts for approximately 0.4% of Bellevue Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Bellevue Asset Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $58.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $44.24 and a 52 week high of $61.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.40 and its 200 day moving average is $55.66. The company has a market cap of $22.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.51%.

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.