W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $63.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $63.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WRB. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $58.67 to $55.33 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a buy rating and a $68.67 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $60.89.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $58.57 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $41.82 and a 52 week high of $61.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.51.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,478,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.