W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 30,666 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,528 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Amundi grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after buying an additional 12,830 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after buying an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 72.6% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,574,000 after acquiring an additional 41,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 15,664 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 7.4 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $71.21 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $76.38. 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 capitalization of $27.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.16.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

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.