Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,454 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $59.19 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.61. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.10 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 stock has a market capitalization of $22.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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.com, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.74.

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.