CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Acquires 688 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,860 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $69.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $62.37 and a 200-day moving average of $60.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.21.

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.