W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Short Interest Update

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,020,000 shares, a decline of 12.7% from the August 31st total of 8,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $56.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $41.37 and a fifty-two week high of $61.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Barclays began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.70.

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.