HB Wealth Management LLC Invests $289,000 in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,089 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 92.3% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $88.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $55.50 and a twelve month high of $89.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.54.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WRB. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.11.

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.