Savant Capital LLC Acquires 3,138 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,138 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $27,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 148.4% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $76.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.97 and a 1-year high of $78.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.62.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $84.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.46.

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.