Investment Planning Advisors Inc. Acquires 6,287 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Investment Planning Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 45.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,018 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,287 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley comprises approximately 0.5% of Investment Planning Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Investment Planning Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,970 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 2,447 shares in the last quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 11,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 31,662 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,853,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $59.34 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.39. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. Analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

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.