W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

WRB has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $71.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.15. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,132,262,000 after buying an additional 529,294 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $857,814,000 after acquiring an additional 4,947,830 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,722,476 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $685,999,000 after acquiring an additional 116,957 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $642,294,000 after acquiring an additional 3,825,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $449,168,000 after acquiring an additional 103,350 shares during 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.