W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) is America First Investment Advisors LLC’s 8th Largest Position

America First Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 411,245 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,883 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley comprises approximately 5.3% of America First Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. America First Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $24,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $64.39 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $24.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.99.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given 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 dividend yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.