Tobam Increases Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Tobam boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 74,415 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley makes up approximately 2.1% of Tobam’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Tobam’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WRB. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 148.4% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $76.34 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.60. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.97 and a 1-year high of $78.48. The company has a market cap of $29.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

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

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.46.

About W.R. Berkley

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.