W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stake Boosted by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,421,032 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 43,940 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.37% of W. R. Berkley worth $83,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.60. 466,900 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,765,531. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $51.13 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $65.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.