Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $5.57 Million Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 72.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 41,320 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $3,428,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 12,830 shares during the last quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 45.3% in the third quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 51,601 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,927,000 after buying an additional 16,085 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 9,061 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 2,797 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WRB. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.28.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5 %

WRB stock opened at $60.78 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.48. The company has a market cap of $23.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.75 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its 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. 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

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.