Nuveen Asset Management LLC Has $36.61 Million Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 625,584 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 415 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.16% of W. R. Berkley worth $36,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.06.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $73.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

About W. R. Berkley

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.