Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Invests $767,000 in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,103 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $767,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $48,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $66.38 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.07. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $68.95.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

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.