AGF Management Ltd. Has $2.93 Million Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

AGF Management Ltd. lowered its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,054 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,133 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WRB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 279.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,232 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.36.

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W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3 %

WRB traded up $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $61.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,558,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,666,119. The company has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $60.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.72. 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 (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

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.