Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Grows Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 55.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,877 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 59.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 194,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,190,000 after purchasing an additional 72,574 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,132 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $301,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $59.65 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. The firm has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.44 and a fifty-two week high of $61.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.06.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. 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 business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.