Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Has $13.06 Million Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. cut its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 230,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 754 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley comprises 2.4% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $13,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $60.18. The company had a trading volume of 59,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,780,186. The firm has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.42 and a 200-day moving average of $55.96. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $45.30 and a 12 month high of $61.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.20%.

About W. R. Berkley

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.