Analysts Set W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) PT at $64.36

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $64.36.

WRB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Bank of America increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during 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 bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. PFS Partners LLC increased 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 valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $60.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.12. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.33%.

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.