Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD Has $6.19 Million Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD decreased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 87,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley accounts for approximately 2.9% of Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WRB. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE WRB traded down $1.24 on Friday, reaching $76.67. The company had a trading volume of 585,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,258,156. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $84.38 and its 200 day moving average is $76.22. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

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.