Truist Financial Boosts W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $68.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target hoisted by Truist Financial from $64.00 to $68.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WRB. Bank of America increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.64.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE WRB opened at $61.26 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $41.82 and a fifty-two week high of $61.60. The stock has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.52.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.0% in the first 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 stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.8% during the first quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 4.0% during the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,478,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.