DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 1,435 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $3,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 11,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 3,647 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $203,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 68.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 116,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,624,000 after purchasing an additional 47,515 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 59.8% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 3,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays lifted 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, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $71.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.93 and a 200 day moving average of $60.28. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.