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

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 58.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 161,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,694 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $9,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $272,582,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $98,446,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,949,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $172,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,565 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,691,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.06.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $73.47 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $51.17 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.42.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.42%.

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.