W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $68.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective raised by Truist Financial from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.64.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $61.26 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $41.82 and a 52 week high of $61.60. The stock has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $58.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.