W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) saw a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,630,000 shares, a growth of 20.4% from the February 13th total of 7,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the 3rd 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 bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $732,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of WRB stock traded down $0.78 on Tuesday, hitting $63.31. 1,326,227 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,653,344. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WRB. Morgan Stanley began 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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.