Royal Bank of Canada Buys 96,769 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,773,732 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 96,769 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.47% of W. R. Berkley worth $103,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 79.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $73.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company's 50 day moving average is $68.74 and its 200 day moving average is $63.35. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.06.

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.

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