Entropy Technologies LP Has $2.07 Million Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 87.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,495 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $41,837,000 after acquiring an additional 257,211 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the third 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $61.51 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.80. 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 (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.33%.

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.