Metis Global Partners LLC Has $929,000 Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $929,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 5,841 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 63.7% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $996,000 after acquiring an additional 6,829 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 65.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 240,603 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,649,000 after purchasing an additional 80,157 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $62.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. 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 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.54.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

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.