W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) PT Raised to $69.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target increased by UBS Group from $67.00 to $69.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB stock opened at $58.16 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $43.20 and a 1-year high of $61.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.60.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.