Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 46.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 711,741 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 224,805 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $41,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 43,350 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 14,750 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. 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 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $63.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.90. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

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.