HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 124,222 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,417 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $7,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE WRB opened at $63.31 on Wednesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.84.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.