Cumberland Partners Ltd Invests $1.99 Million in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,035 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,988,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $60.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,055,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,041. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.42 and a 200-day moving average of $55.96. The company has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.30 and a 12-month high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 8.20%.

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.