Washington Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB – Free Report) by 23.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,439,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,161,417,000 after acquiring an additional 195,763 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,553,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $593,584,000 after buying an additional 54,530 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.5% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,698,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $197,838,000 after buying an additional 92,242 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $160,128,000 after acquiring an additional 139,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,929,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,654,000 after purchasing an additional 26,464 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have recently commented on WRB. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.31.
W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.3 %
NYSE WRB traded down $0.20 on Tuesday, reaching $59.06. The company had a trading volume of 810,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,755,235. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $41.82 and a 1 year high of $61.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $57.85 and a 200-day moving average of $55.47.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.
W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.
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.
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