W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Acquired by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 48.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 283,597 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,017 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $16,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.0% during the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,478,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 39,857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,132,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $57.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.69. The stock has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $44.67 and a one year high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.91%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid 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, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

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.