W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB is Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 633,285 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,076 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley makes up approximately 6.6% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. owned about 0.17% of W.R. Berkley worth $44,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $401,607,000 after purchasing an additional 242,546 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 133.5% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 18,022 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,762,000. Stance Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 376.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 48,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 38,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 100,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,666,000 after purchasing an additional 23,605 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of WRB opened at $67.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.53. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $63.67 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Brean Capital lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 220,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.15 per share, for a total transaction of $15,653,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 57,888,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,118,775,313. The trade was a 0.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 1,111,830 shares of company stock valued at $79,622,596. 23.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.