Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Makes New $520,000 Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,897 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $520,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 78.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,469,608 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $83,372,000 after purchasing an additional 646,973 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,590 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at about $88,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,709,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $98,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WRB stock traded down $0.49 on Thursday, reaching $71.20. 1,581,583 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,768,389. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $51.17 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $66.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.08.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.39.

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.