W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stock Holdings Boosted by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 97.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $67,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $59.32 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.20 and a fifty-two week high of $61.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $58.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WRB. TD Cowen began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

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.