Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 24,150 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 31.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 101,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,150 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $7,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 148.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective (down previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 325,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $68.03 per share, for a total transaction of $22,109,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 52,496,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,571,337,167.12. This represents a 0.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 4,454,916 shares of company stock valued at $309,561,870. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $67.85 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $56.86 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.77 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 18.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.56%.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.