W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Holdings Lifted by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 47.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 174,543 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 55,942 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $13,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,439,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,161,417,000 after purchasing an additional 195,763 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,041,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $144,371,000 after purchasing an additional 39,594 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $160,128,000 after acquiring an additional 139,588 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 89.2% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $134,690,000 after buying an additional 898,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 83.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,757,000 after purchasing an additional 535,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $57.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $41.37 and a twelve month high of $61.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.82.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.70.

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.