Teza Capital Management LLC Sells 4,745 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Teza Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 55.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,871 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,745 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $73.47 on Wednesday. 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 $27.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.42. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $51.17 and a 12-month high of $76.38.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.06.

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.