Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,121,968 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 447,797 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.08% of W. R. Berkley worth $241,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. PFS Partners LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd 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. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 843 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.36.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on W. R. Berkley
W. R. Berkley Stock Performance
W. R. Berkley stock traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $61.01. 1,639,493 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,917,750. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $65.49. The firm has a market cap of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $59.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.33%.
About W. R. Berkley
(
Free Report)
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.
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