BNP Paribas Financial Markets Raises Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 107.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 661,959 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 342,344 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.17% of W. R. Berkley worth $37,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 95.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 274,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $24,243,000 after buying an additional 4,291 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $207,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 96.8% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,006 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $865,000. 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 opened at $64.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.27 and a 200 day moving average of $56.79.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly 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 during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial upped 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.