World Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 30,122 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,709,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $60.76 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $45.75 and a 52 week high of $65.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.54.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.28.

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.