Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Acquires Shares of 131,070 W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 131,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,299,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 74.3% in the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 86,120 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,767,000 after acquiring an additional 36,712 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth approximately $1,157,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth approximately $271,000. Dundas Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 11.6% in the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 682,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,635,000 after buying an additional 71,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted 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 worth $197,838,000 after buying an additional 92,242 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $56.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $41.37 and a 1-year high of $61.28. The company has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.20.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.70.

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.