Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Price

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.74.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $60.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $48.69 and a 1-year high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced 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 net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 373.5% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,014 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 4,744 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 6.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 351,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,593,000 after purchasing an additional 20,687 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 85,261 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,729,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 835,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $65,656,000 after purchasing an additional 34,138 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2,212.4% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 3,385 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by 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.