Wedmont Private Capital Has $567,000 Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,278 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Impact Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,772 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,433,000. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 20,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after buying an additional 2,111 shares during the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 2.0%

WRB stock opened at $72.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $71.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.75. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.17 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.64.

About W. R. Berkley

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.