W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Stock Position Lessened by Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 633,652 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,921 shares during the quarter. W.R. Berkley comprises 7.8% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of W.R. Berkley worth $45,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,356 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 6,326 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,563 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,527,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WRB. UBS Group lifted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.92.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock traded down $0.76 on Wednesday, reaching $69.61. The company had a trading volume of 2,085,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,484. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $51.41 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The firm has a market cap of $26.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.41. 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 moving average price is $72.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.27.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. As a group, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend 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.