Brandes Investment Partners LP Has $64.59 Million Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,103,658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,170 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned about 0.29% of W. R. Berkley worth $64,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in 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 during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,837,000 after acquiring an additional 257,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 2.3 %

WRB stock opened at $63.27 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 firm has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.77.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.