IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $3.25 Million Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,305 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,801 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $3,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $58.16 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $43.20 and a 1 year high of $61.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.60.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its 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. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.08.

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.