EULAV Asset Management Raises Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

EULAV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRBFree Report) by 50.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,564,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 521,630 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley comprises about 2.2% of EULAV Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. EULAV Asset Management’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $88,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 99.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,733 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 5,847 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 2,368 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 50.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,625 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,134,214 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $64,344,000 after buying an additional 350,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $60.19 on Wednesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $45.75 and a 1 year high of $61.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $58.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.27. The firm has a market cap of $22.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRBGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on W. R. Berkley

About W. R. Berkley

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

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