Confluence Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,336,426 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 26,869 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.35% of W. R. Berkley worth $78,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after buying an additional 12,830 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 53.6% in 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 buying an additional 257,211 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $235,701,000 after buying an additional 2,118,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,801,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.00. 173,811 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,731,382. The stock has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.59 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.28.

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.