CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $12.93 Million Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co cut its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 221,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 52,229 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.06% of W. R. Berkley worth $12,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,814,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,772,830. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.81. The company has a market cap of $26.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.64.

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.