Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Has $46.45 Million Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 632,212 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,440 shares during the quarter. W.R. Berkley accounts for approximately 7.5% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $46,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.1%

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $76.97 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $29.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.42. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.97 and a twelve month high of $77.58.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.54.

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.