Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Purchases 352,825 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,151,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 352,825 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $81,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 17,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,220,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of WRB traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.97. The company had a trading volume of 580,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,261,852. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.69. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.