CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Decreases Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lessened its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 221,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 52,229 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.06% of W. R. Berkley worth $12,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $71.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,819,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,776,783. The company has a market capitalization of $27.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $65.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.61.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy 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 $66.90.

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.