W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $60.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.98. The stock has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 98.6% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,397 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 7,645 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 59.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 73,973 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,197,000 after acquiring an additional 27,539 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 14,766 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 4,922 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502 shares in the last quarter. 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.