Crestline Management LP Acquires New Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Crestline Management LP bought a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 91,170 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,335,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of WRB stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,105,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,767,299. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $51.17 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $67.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.68.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. On average, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on WRB shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.39.

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.