Arbor Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Arbor Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,488 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,715,583,000 after buying an additional 625,685 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 3.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $599,271,000 after buying an additional 289,172 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 8.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $534,438,000 after acquiring an additional 577,873 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $367,921,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,738,612 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $201,206,000 after acquiring an additional 121,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $69.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.56%.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 237,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $69.35 per share, for a total transaction of $16,486,852.90. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 50,764,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,520,500,390.75. This trade represents a 0.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders purchased 1,957,657 shares of company stock valued at $137,235,699 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $67.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.93.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.