Abacus Planning Group Inc. Has $315,000 Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $76.87 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $77.31. The company has a market capitalization of $29.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered 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 equities 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley 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.