Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 21.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,221 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,932 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $2,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 18,671 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $697,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,104 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 76,635 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,453,000 after acquiring an additional 14,089 shares during the period. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,237,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $71.49 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $51.41 and a one year high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $72.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. As a group, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.42.

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.

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