Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,666 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,528 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,132,262,000 after buying an additional 529,294 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $857,814,000 after acquiring an additional 4,947,830 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $642,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825,238 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $429,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 7.4 %

WRB opened at $71.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.16.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

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.