Maren Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Maren Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,005,195 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 32,008 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley makes up approximately 4.5% of Maren Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Maren Capital LLC owned 0.26% of W. R. Berkley worth $58,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.59.

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W. R. Berkley Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.53. 2,574,963 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,805,574. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $63.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.98.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given 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 0.47%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

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.