W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Position Cut by Hutchinson Capital Management CA

Hutchinson Capital Management CA trimmed its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 244,459 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 819 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley makes up about 2.7% of Hutchinson Capital Management CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Hutchinson Capital Management CA owned about 0.06% of W. R. Berkley worth $14,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. 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 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of WRB opened at $63.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Analysts expect 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 disclosed 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 yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

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.