Cumberland Partners Ltd Has $1.41 Million Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 612.2% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,904,000 after purchasing an additional 865,205 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 213.9% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,147,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,884,000 after acquiring an additional 782,280 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $358,039,000 after acquiring an additional 699,297 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $829,511,000 after acquiring an additional 529,817 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,205,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WRB. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE WRB traded down $1.07 on Wednesday, hitting $78.01. 1,847,834 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,245,491. The company has a market cap of $20.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.57. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $89.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $84.55 and a 200-day moving average of $76.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.70%.

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.