Cynosure Group LLC Acquires 1,769 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Cynosure Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 37.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,769 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several 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 during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd 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 purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.9 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $64.94 on Friday. 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 $65.49. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.79.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business 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 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

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.