Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 50.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 767,793 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 255,813 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.20% of W. R. Berkley worth $43,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $968,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 29.5% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,874 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth approximately $256,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 89.7% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,309 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,211,000 after acquiring an additional 31,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 4.0% in the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.
W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.0 %
WRB stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,467,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,862. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.29. 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 company has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.75 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.20%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
WRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upped 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. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.28.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on W. R. Berkley
W. R. Berkley Profile
(
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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