Huntington National Bank Raises Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 623.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,556 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,341 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $88,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $60.83 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.46 and its 200 day moving average is $56.21. 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 has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.21%.

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.