Citizens National Bank Trust Department Acquires 10,095 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Citizens National Bank Trust Department grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 44.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,610 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,095 shares during the quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $249,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 14,704 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,300,000 after buying an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 36,959 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,269,000 after buying an additional 7,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 163,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,457,000 after buying an additional 5,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE WRB opened at $57.50 on Monday. 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 twelve month low of $44.67 and a twelve month high of $61.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $58.37 and its 200 day moving average is $55.71.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released 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. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. One investment 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, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

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.