Resonant Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,054 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,743 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 92.3% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE WRB opened at $82.40 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $21.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.78.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.22.

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.