W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Short Interest Update

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,020,000 shares, a drop of 12.7% from the August 31st total of 8,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $56.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $41.37 and a 52 week 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 50 day moving average of $56.99 and a 200-day moving average of $72.20.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,690,000 after acquiring an additional 898,027 shares during the last quarter. Maren Capital LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $37,915,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 83.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,757,000 after acquiring an additional 535,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 190.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 477,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,254,000 after acquiring an additional 313,234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WRB. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of 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 lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.70.

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.