W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 139,588 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.53% of W. R. Berkley worth $160,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth approximately $65,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $57.45 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $41.37 and a one year high of $61.28. The company has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.16.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley 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.