Amundi Boosts Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Amundi boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 43.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 444,986 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.39% of W. R. Berkley worth $85,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $565,000. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,147,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 95,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,567,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,691,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 88,426 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,175,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $61.98 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.71. The company has a market capitalization of $23.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.49.

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, 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, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

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.