W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Receives $72.54 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.5385.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.9%

WRB stock opened at $76.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $55.97 and a 1-year high of $77.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.11.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 8.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Rydar Equities Inc. purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $573,000. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $3,171,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 51,732 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,803,000 after buying an additional 10,073 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.