UMB Bank n.a. Boosts Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,986 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring 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.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted 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 acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. 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. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.74.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $59.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.10 and a 12 month high of $65.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

About W. R. Berkley

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.