CIBC Asset Management Inc Purchases 2,209 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 49,971 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,209 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WRB. Creative Planning boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 59.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 73,973 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,197,000 after acquiring an additional 27,539 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,037,000 after acquiring an additional 33,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 56.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,290 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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 report on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $60.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.21 and its 200-day moving average is $59.18. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.33%.

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.