Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 835,963 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,534 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.22% of W. R. Berkley worth $48,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,085 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $732,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,680 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,967 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $235,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 111,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,318,000 after acquiring an additional 37,270 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 2.3 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $63.27 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.78. The company has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

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 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%. Research 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.