W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Short Interest Down 28.3% in April

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,280,000 shares, a decline of 28.3% from the March 31st total of 5,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company's stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 2.0% during the first quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,237 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, CHB Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. CHB Investment Group LLC now owns 50,557 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,598,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.60. 1,706,285 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,767,060. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $51.17 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $66.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for 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, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.39.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.