W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Cumberland Partners Ltd

Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $1.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,847,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,491. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.20. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $55.50 and a twelve month high of $89.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 11.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.63.

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.