Toronto Dominion Bank Boosts Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 101,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,998 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.28.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $60.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $45.75 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.54. The firm has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

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.