OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Makes New $373,000 Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,274 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 92.3% during the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $82.40 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.53 and its 200 day moving average is $75.96. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 11.38%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WRB. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of 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. Truist Financial increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.88.

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.