Global Assets Advisory LLC Invests $470,000 in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,968 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the first quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. CHB Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.3% in the first quarter. CHB Investment Group LLC now owns 50,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,598,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,842 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $71.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.48. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $51.41 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The stock has a market cap of $27.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.64.

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.