NCM Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

NCM Capital Management LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,259 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,753 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,553,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $593,584,000 after buying an additional 54,530 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.5% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,698,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $197,838,000 after purchasing an additional 92,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $160,128,000 after purchasing an additional 139,588 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6 %

WRB stock opened at $64.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $45.75 and a twelve month high of $65.49.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.22.

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.