Erste Asset Management GmbH Takes Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 115,350 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,535,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WRB. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of 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, Truist Financial lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,080,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,210,761. The firm has a market cap of $24.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 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 52 week low of $45.75 and a 52 week high of $65.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.09.

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. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The business's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

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.