ING Groep NV Makes New Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 13,606 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $796,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 45.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,037,000 after purchasing an additional 33,097 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.4% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 6,956 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 31.7% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 57,305 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 13,801 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.2% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 110.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 10,742 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $62.34 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $59.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.31.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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.