ING Groep NV Raises Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

ING Groep NV grew its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 612.2% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,904,000 after buying an additional 865,205 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $358,039,000 after buying an additional 699,297 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $829,511,000 after buying an additional 529,817 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 155.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,050,000 after purchasing an additional 379,229 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,151,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $81,461,000 after purchasing an additional 352,825 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.38.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $80.09 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $89.18. The company has a market cap of $20.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.04.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 12.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.82 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

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.