32,012 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Purchased by OLD Mission Capital LLC

OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 32,012 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,873,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.7 %

WRB opened at $69.73 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $26.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.43. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.21.

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.