W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Position Increased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 469,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,997 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $27,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $71.21 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.70 and its 200-day moving average is $60.18. 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 company has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given 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 (DPR) is currently 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. Barclays boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.