Retirement Systems of Alabama Buys 20,715 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 46.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,267 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,715 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $3,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $642,294,000 after buying an additional 3,825,238 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $429,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,073 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,553,875 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $593,584,000 after acquiring an additional 54,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.57. 4,458,286 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,749,694. The company has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $60.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.70.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WRB. Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.28.

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.