Asset Management Group Inc. Acquires 19,499 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Asset Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 43.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,482 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,499 shares during the period. Asset Management Group Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $3,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on WRB shares. Barclays started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of WRB opened at $62.14 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $58.60 and its 200 day moving average is $56.36. The company has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $62.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

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.