MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $4.43 Million Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,050 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,090 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $4,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth $62,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $64.55 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $24.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.94.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 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 Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

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.