Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 346,444 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 22,763 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.09% of W. R. Berkley worth $20,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
WRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded W. R. Berkley from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.59.
Read Our Latest Research Report on W. R. Berkley
W. R. Berkley Price Performance
W. R. Berkley stock traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $69.41. 1,716,596 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,806,183. The company has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $63.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.01. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $76.38.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.34%.
W. R. Berkley Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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