W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Acquired by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 30.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,974 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,743 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake 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. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 323,681 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,291,000 after acquiring an additional 96,292 shares during the last quarter. Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth $200,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 6,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 156,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,871,000 after purchasing an additional 52,428 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $64.33 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50-day moving average is $58.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $45.75 and a 1 year high of $64.46.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company 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%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. 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 report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Profile

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.