Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 835,963 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 60,534 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.22% of W. R. Berkley worth $48,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 156.5% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 23,600 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 14,400 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,103,658 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $64,586,000 after acquiring an additional 38,170 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,446,000. Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $840,000. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $818,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.2 %

W. R. Berkley stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $63.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,103,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,674. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.11 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $60.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.87.

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W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. 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 analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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.