W.R. Berkley Corp (NYSE:WRB)

Attractively priced (P/E 12.34). High gross margins (45). Reasonable operating margins (13). Growth relative to earnings (PEG 1.54). Streamlined P/S (0.97)

A Berkshire wannabe with more room to grow that Buffet's baby. Real money pick.

Mini Berkshire 15% IRR goal. Don't sell.

blue-chip insurance

A great company with a history of annual premiums earned being greater than the payouts to losses + expenses, called the combined ratio, WRB's is less than 100%.

Going to double in 2 years...

revenue from trailing 12 quarters has gone up each quarter for the most part and EPS is at a whopping 45.40% in 1 year up from 16.79% at 3 years.

6% insider holding
Insiders buying shares.
P/S=1 P/B=1.2

Here's the buy rec:

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/02/15/rising-star-buy-wr-berkley.aspx

My # 7 pick for 2010. Goal: $ 33.00

I picked this to remind me to follow this stock for my sister-in-law - who worked for Berkley and was purchasing through the company plan. She no longer works for them, but their 10Qs and 10Ks have looked very good, so I've held onto it in CAPS. If I had looked at it earlier, I might have bought it instead of MKL for my real portfolio. Of course, if I had enough money that I was willing to tie it up in a single share of stock, I would always go with BRK (A or B).

Regional structure allows adjustment to localized markets and to contain downside risk while placing leadership close to the client. Premiums will begin to weaken but close relationships with agents will dampen impact on Berkely.

This is another buy 'em when they're cheap play. BER stock price is currently facing two headwinds: cyclical pricing weakness in the P&C industry, and concerns about the credit quality of their investment portfolio (this is a concern for virtually all financial companies, not BER specifically). To address the pricing issue, it is cyclical; i.e., "normal." Industry pricing is cyclical, and there should only be about another year or so of weakness in this cycle. This weakness is reflected in the stock price, with BER trading at less than 8x, with a long-term growth rate of 12%, which is conservative in my estimation. Regarding the quality of the investment portfolio, BER has already announced that it is holding virtually no low quality investments. Is this a baby being thrown out with the bath water? I think so. This is a great company with a terrific growth record. It's quality all the way at a cheap price.

zacks research target price 38

Strong Growth, Low P/E, Founder Controlled Company with good management. High Institutional and Founder ownership.

good cheap stock. Growth is slowing but free cash flow is still huge. It's not trading much above its net tangible assets either. A steal any way you look at it!

Stock appreciation tends to track their long term return on equity. BER is sporting a 14% ROE. As long as they keep their expense and loss ratios under control this should be a good long term play.

Solid company that is climbing from a recent pull back. Time to buy!

Splits, growth, and dividends - BER has been good to me in my real money portfolio. I've held onto it for many years, and you'd need a crowbar to get this one out of my hands.