Busey Bank Purchases Shares of 7,214 W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Busey Bank acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,214 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stance Capital LLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 376.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 48,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 38,013 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $2,801,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,630,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 118,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,336,000 after buying an additional 18,820 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 105.4% in the fourth quarter. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 29,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after buying an additional 15,240 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:WRB opened at $70.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $62.87 and a one year high of $78.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.23.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $62.00 price objective (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Argus cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.50.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.