W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,384 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 658 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 257,211 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,801,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.1 %

WRB stock opened at $59.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $65.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.48. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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.