Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Increases Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 36.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth approximately $4,801,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,837,000 after purchasing an additional 257,211 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 92,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,252,000 after purchasing an additional 30,833 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 60,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 20,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 205.9% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,385,000 after buying an additional 46,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $60.83 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $61.96.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.