Tortoise Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 69.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 71.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 90,408 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,129,000 after purchasing an additional 37,569 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 92,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,252,000 after purchasing an additional 30,833 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 279.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 46.9% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 26,082 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 8,808 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $62.94 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.68.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WRB. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley 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.