Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Invests $767,000 in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,103 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $767,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued 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 Trading Up 1.7 %

WRB opened at $66.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $61.47 and its 200-day moving average is $60.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $68.95.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

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.