XTX Topco Ltd Makes New Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,072 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. State Street Corp increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $642,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825,238 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 128.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,507,757 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $85,535,000 after acquiring an additional 846,331 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $58.85 on Wednesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.75 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. The firm has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Bank of America upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.28.

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.