Natixis Advisors L.P. Lowers Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Natixis Advisors L.P. reduced its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 206,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,293 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned about 0.08% of W. R. Berkley worth $14,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 612.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $63,904,000 after purchasing an additional 865,205 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 213.9% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,147,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,884,000 after acquiring an additional 782,280 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $358,039,000 after acquiring an additional 699,297 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $829,511,000 after acquiring an additional 529,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $20,205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $78.71 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $55.50 and a 12-month high of $89.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.06.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.38.

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.