Avestar Capital LLC Raises Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,444 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in 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 in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $64.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.73. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $45.75 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.62.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.