State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Grows Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 188,159 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 40,715 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $11,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $71.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The business's 50 day moving average is $65.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.61. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.90.

W. R. Berkley 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.

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