W.R. Berkley Corporation (WRB) – What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.44.

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $68.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 21st.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on W.R. Berkley

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $3,542,919,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 10.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,972,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $263,326,000 after buying an additional 377,742 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,768,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $249,757,000 after acquiring an additional 129,801 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 23.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,904,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $192,512,000 after acquiring an additional 550,560 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,790,374 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $195,661,000 after acquiring an additional 26,726 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $71.87 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.75. The firm has a market cap of $26.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.27. W.R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $62.87 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.90 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

About W.R. Berkley

(Get Free Report)

W.R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that specializes in commercial property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. Through a group of operating units, the company provides coverage for businesses and organizations facing risks related to property damage, liability, workers’ compensation, transportation, professional services and other specialty exposures.

The company generally focuses on specialty and complex risks that may require tailored underwriting, industry expertise and customized policy structures.

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Analyst Recommendations for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

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