Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Acquires New Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,305 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $79,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:WRB traded up $1.03 on Monday, reaching $69.48. The stock had a trading volume of 373,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,027,515. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The stock has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.78 and a 200 day moving average of $61.01.

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W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded W. R. Berkley from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.59.

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.