Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Invests $1.90 Million in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 33,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,904,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $41,837,000 after purchasing an additional 257,211 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,801,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during 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 during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $63.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.60. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $45.75 and a 52-week high of $63.46.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

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.