Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $11.94 Million Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 204,003 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 16,137 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $11,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 11,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,647 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 116,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,624,000 after buying an additional 47,515 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 3,688 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $410,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.1 %

WRB stock opened at $71.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $26.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.93 and a 200-day moving average of $60.28.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.