Raiffeisen Bank International AG Makes New Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 12,268 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $85,853,000 after buying an additional 444,986 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $982,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $560,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 119,327 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,766,000 after purchasing an additional 4,363 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB traded down $0.94 on Thursday, reaching $72.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 428,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,757,315. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $51.17 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50 day moving average is $69.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.48. The stock has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.64.

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.