W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,690,000 shares, an increase of 18.7% from the November 30th total of 3,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.8% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,646 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at $233,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 65,267 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,703,000 after purchasing an additional 20,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB remained flat at $58.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock had a trading volume of 831,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,731,382. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.10. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $47.18 and a 52-week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.28.

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.