Forte Capital LLC ADV Has $6.75 Million Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 48.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,943 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 38,630 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.0% during the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,478,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 39,857 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,132,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd 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. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $59.62. 1,185,933 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,796,983. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $44.88 and a one year high of $61.96. The company has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 11.96%. W. R. Berkley's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 8.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from 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.