Sapient Capital LLC Takes $685,000 Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,685 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EULAV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.4% during the third quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 945,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,015,000 after purchasing an additional 39,716 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $8,970,000. NatWest Group plc acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $8,791,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $870,000. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 53,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,126,000 after buying an additional 12,140 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WRB traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $78.56. 1,259,903 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,555,009. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $55.50 and a 12-month high of $89.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.88. 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 company has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.60.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.38.

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.