Waverton Investment Management Ltd Has $1.22 Million Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,175 shares during the quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $4,801,000. 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 purchasing an additional 46,125 shares during the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $3,245,000. CHB Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at about $2,880,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 25.6% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 49,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,875,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 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 NYSE WRB opened at $60.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.90. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $45.30 and a 52 week high of $61.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62.

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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend 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 (DPR) is 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.