Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Buys 1,771 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 53.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,089 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,771 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 315.4% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $392,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 34,963 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,473,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 53,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,126,000 after acquiring an additional 12,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 15,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $81.90. The company had a trading volume of 422,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,177,935. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $55.50 and a 12-month high of $89.18. The stock has a market cap of $21.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $84.49 and its 200 day moving average is $75.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.22.

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.