Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 493 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,707 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 106.1% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 132.6% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 70.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $77.91 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $55.50 and a 1 year high of $89.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.22.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.93 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.63.

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.