Hilltop Holdings Inc. Invests $2.97 Million in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 38,718 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,967,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho decreased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 112,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders bought 9,933,862 shares of company stock worth $688,134,108. Company insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of WRB opened at $68.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $62.63 and a 1-year high of $78.96. The stock has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.08.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.17%. W.R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.09%.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.