41,301 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Purchased by Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 41,301 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,245,000. W. R. Berkley makes up about 1.2% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,439,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,161,417,000 after acquiring an additional 195,763 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $213,635,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,041,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $144,371,000 after buying an additional 39,594 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,933,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $136,749,000 after buying an additional 138,276 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,690,000 after acquiring an additional 898,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $58.34 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.40. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $41.37 and a 52-week high of $61.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $58.67 to $55.33 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.67.

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.