Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $617,000 Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.6% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,787,639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $838,808,000 after purchasing an additional 65,163 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 21.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $357,368,000 after purchasing an additional 900,071 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,539,691 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $180,724,000 after purchasing an additional 52,594 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.5% in the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,842,275 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $131,096,000 after purchasing an additional 160,017 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,822,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,697,000 after purchasing an additional 25,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $73.96 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.86. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $78.48.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. On average, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.69.

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.