W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stake Lifted by Wallington Asset Management LLC

Wallington Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 399,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 856 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley comprises about 3.4% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Wallington Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of W. R. Berkley worth $23,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after buying an additional 12,830 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 53.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,837,000 after purchasing an additional 257,211 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $235,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,801,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $59.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $48.69 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The company has a market cap of $22.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.48.

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 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.74.

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.