W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) is Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 633,652 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,921 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley accounts for approximately 7.8% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. owned 0.17% of W.R. Berkley worth $45,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 79.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of WRB stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.83. 2,235,809 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,795,860. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $51.41 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.35%.

About W.R. Berkley

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.