World Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 30,122 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,709,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the third 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. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5 %

WRB traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $60.76. 1,372,499 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,742,165. The company has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.17 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $60.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued 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 is Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on WRB. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.