King Luther Capital Management Corp Purchases 3,328 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,887 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,328 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WRB. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $62.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.77 and its 200 day moving average is $56.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.75 and a fifty-two week high of $62.54.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

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.