Empirical Asset Management LLC Has $831,000 Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Empirical Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 140.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,558 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $831,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Covestor Ltd lifted 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 buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $59.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.82 and a fifty-two week high of $61.28. The company has a market cap of $22.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.47.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on WRB shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.89.

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.