Brokerages Set W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Price Target at $59.67

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.70.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.2% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 12,482 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,801,000. Delphi Management Inc. MA increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 21,217 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,667,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth $564,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 811,844 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,795,000 after acquiring an additional 26,738 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $57.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $41.37 and a 12-month high of $61.28.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

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.