BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Purchases 11,877 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 30.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,186 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,877 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 224.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 43,339 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,833,000 after buying an additional 29,970 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth about $968,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 26.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,931 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 29.5% during the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 35,574 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,795,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.1 %

W. R. Berkley stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $63.61. 791,509 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,749,746. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $45.75 and a 52 week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.28.

W. R. Berkley 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.