Whittier Trust Co. Increases Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 56.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,290 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3 %

WRB stock opened at $59.32 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $43.20 and a twelve month high of $61.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.60.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

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.