Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 133,848 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 340.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 173,143 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,848 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $12,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at $44,210,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 80,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 126,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 135,715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:WRB opened at $67.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.89. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WRB. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.85.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.