W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by Isthmus Partners LLC

Isthmus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 48.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,630 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,382 shares during the quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $12,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 53.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,837,000 after purchasing an additional 257,211 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $4,801,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 92,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,252,000 after purchasing an additional 30,833 shares during the period. Finally, Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 60,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 20,250 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE WRB opened at $64.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $45.75 and a 52 week high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.79.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.22.

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.