Crestline Management LP Purchases Shares of 91,170 W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Crestline Management LP purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 91,170 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,335,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the fourth 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 worth $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $982,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $560,000. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB traded down $1.26 on Monday, hitting $71.23. The company had a trading volume of 456,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,764,741. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.73. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $51.17 and a 52 week high of $76.38.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.39.

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.