Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 835,963 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,534 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $48,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the 4th 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. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $63.27 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.78. The firm has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.