Maren Capital LLC Boosts Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Maren Capital LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 973,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 333,132 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley makes up about 4.5% of Maren Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Maren Capital LLC owned 0.26% of W. R. Berkley worth $55,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $63.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $24.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.75 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.09.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

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.