NatWest Group plc Buys 43,787 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

NatWest Group plc lifted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 77.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,787 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley comprises about 1.7% of NatWest Group plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. NatWest Group plc’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of WRB opened at $61.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.08 and a 200 day moving average of $55.54. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $41.82 and a 1-year high of $61.29.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 EPS for the current 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 $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.64.

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.