AMI Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

AMI Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 2,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 19,887 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $964,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,300,000. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 93.9% during the 4th quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 10,023 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 4,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective (up from $69.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Five 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $88.44 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $55.50 and a 12-month high of $89.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $83.11 and a 200-day moving average of $73.54.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.70%.

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.