Baxter Bros Inc. Boosts Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Baxter Bros Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 139.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,354 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,362 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $57.50 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.70. The firm has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.62. 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 $44.67 and a 52-week high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 11.96%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.21%.

W. R. Berkley 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.