Dundas Partners LLP Raises Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Dundas Partners LLP boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 682,544 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 71,002 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley makes up 4.2% of Dundas Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Dundas Partners LLP owned approximately 0.18% of W. R. Berkley worth $53,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,439,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,161,417,000 after buying an additional 195,763 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,553,875 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $593,584,000 after buying an additional 54,530 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 3.5% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,698,311 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $197,838,000 after buying an additional 92,242 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,041,442 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $144,371,000 after acquiring an additional 39,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $160,128,000 after acquiring an additional 139,588 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock traded up $0.32 on Thursday, hitting $56.71. 1,569,372 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,754,658. The company's fifty day moving average is $56.88 and its 200 day moving average is $72.51. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $41.37 and a 1-year high of $61.28. The company has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.70.

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.