91,170 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Bought by Crestline Management LP

Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 91,170 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,335,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after purchasing an additional 9,534 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $440,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 43,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,531,000 after buying an additional 4,159 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,856 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,406,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $72.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.39.

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.