Brokerages Set W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Target Price at $64.28

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.28.

WRB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third 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 during the period. PFS Partners LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $58.97 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.96. The company has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $46.74 and a twelve month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.21%.

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.