W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stock Position Increased by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,986 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $59.19 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.61. The company has a market capitalization of $22.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.67. 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 $50.10 and a 1-year high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.74.

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.