AGF Management Ltd. Reduces Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

AGF Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,553 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 9,806 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $829,511,000 after purchasing an additional 529,817 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,819,124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $432,946,000 after acquiring an additional 302,212 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,793,764 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $409,735,000 after acquiring an additional 154,468 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,001,848 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $127,097,000 after acquiring an additional 98,500 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,684,279 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $119,112,000 after purchasing an additional 50,861 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.36. 1,278,765 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,239,523. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $55.50 and a 1 year high of $89.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.63. The company has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 20.51%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WRB. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.38.

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.