Nordea Investment Management AB Has $1.47 Million Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,479 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC boosted its position 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 period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.82.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $56.78 on Monday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $60.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.33. The company has a market cap of $21.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $47.96 and a 12 month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

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.