Citigroup Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 303,567 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,146 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.08% of W. R. Berkley worth $17,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 54,530 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in 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 period. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,698,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $197,838,000 after acquiring an additional 92,242 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $160,128,000 after acquiring an additional 139,588 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,929,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,654,000 after purchasing an additional 26,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $64.94 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.73. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $45.75 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The firm has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

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.