Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 26,044 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,524,000.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 335,277 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,620,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,074 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $291,000. Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 130.8% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 8,725 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 4,944 shares during the period. Finally, Tealwood Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,042 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,402,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.3 %
Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded down $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.57. The company had a trading volume of 7,137,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,272,077. The company has a market cap of $22.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.69 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. The firm's fifty day moving average is $60.28 and its 200-day moving average is $58.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. W. R. Berkley's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend
The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have weighed in on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.74.
View Our Latest Stock Report on WRB
About W. R. Berkley
(
Free Report)
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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