W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Holdings Raised by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 51.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,082 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,808 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFS Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $60.25 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $45.30 and a 1-year high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on WRB shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

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.