W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Position Lessened by Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 640,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 10,690 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley comprises about 6.7% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $37,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 843 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WRB. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.8 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $60.39 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $59.23 and its 200 day moving average is $59.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.33%.

W. R. Berkley Profile

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.