W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5 %

WRB stock opened at $60.76 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $45.75 and a one year high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.28.

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.