Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Increases Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,010 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley makes up approximately 1.4% of Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth $4,801,000. Prudential PLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 205.9% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,385,000 after purchasing an additional 46,125 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,245,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 25.6% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 49,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,875,000 after buying an additional 10,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.2% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 174,543 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,716,000 after buying an additional 55,942 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.26. The company had a trading volume of 7,725,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,264. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $41.82 and a 12 month high of $61.60.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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 note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.64.

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.