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

Wallington Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 54.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 398,926 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 140,365 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley comprises 3.2% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $22,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,801,000. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 205.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,385,000 after purchasing an additional 46,125 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,245,000. CHB Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,880,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 49,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,875,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $59.13 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.57. The company has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $43.20 and a 52 week high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

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.