Boothbay Fund Management LLC Makes New Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,830 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,132,262,000 after buying an additional 529,294 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,722,476 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $685,999,000 after acquiring an additional 116,957 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $449,168,000 after acquiring an additional 103,350 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $272,582,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $72.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $51.17 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.27.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on WRB shares. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.39.

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.