W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stock Position Increased by SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC

SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,044 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in 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 worth $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth about $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $41,837,000 after acquiring an additional 257,211 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew 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. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $58.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.48. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.33%.

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.