Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 447,797 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,121,968 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 447,797 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.08% of W. R. Berkley worth $241,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. PFS Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 843 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $60.39 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.12. The company has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.33%.

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.