Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 6,417.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,623 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 139,450 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $8,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aureus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during the third quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,535,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 10,320 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 3,440 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 30.2% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 51,186 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,904,000 after buying an additional 11,877 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at $2,262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.38. The stock had a trading volume of 227,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,754,185. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.02. The company has a market capitalization of $24.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $45.75 and a 1 year high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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.