W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,490,000 shares, a drop of 23.9% from the October 15th total of 5,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of WRB stock traded up $1.09 on Friday, reaching $60.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,497,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,784,405. The stock has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $45.75 and a 12 month high of $61.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.42 and a 200-day moving average of $56.08.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays began 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 target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 22.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 753,191 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $42,729,000 after purchasing an additional 140,396 shares in the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 161.1% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 236,354 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $13,408,000 after purchasing an additional 145,836 shares during the period. Stansberry Asset Management LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 50.3% during the third quarter. Stansberry Asset Management LLC now owns 412,209 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $23,385,000 after acquiring an additional 137,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $857,814,000 after acquiring an additional 4,947,830 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

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.

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