W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Given New $64.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WRB. Wall Street Zen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $68.63.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 3.3%

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $67.53 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $63.67 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.68.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 12.64%.The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 4,518,946 shares of company stock worth $313,702,138. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting W.R. Berkley

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results: WRB beat EPS expectations ($1.30 vs. $1.13 consensus), reported higher net income and operating income, and showed growth in gross premiums written — supporting the rally. Business Wire: Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst stance: Truist kept a Buy rating despite trimming its price target to $78, leaving meaningful upside vs. the current price and offering support to bullish investors. TickerReport: Truist PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets highlighted WRB as a value-name (style-score writeups) and published the full earnings call transcript for investors who want management color on underwriting, reserving and investment trends. Zacks: Value Stock Earnings Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue / premiums question: some reports characterize Q1 as mixed — while EPS beat, premiums and revenue metrics were described as slightly below certain expectations, which could concern underwriting-growth-focused investors. Zacks: Q1 Earnings/Revenue
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts/downgrades: Wells Fargo trimmed its target to $64 and set an “equal weight” rating, and Barclays moved its target to $64 while keeping an “underweight” stance — both actions put near-term downside into focus. Benzinga: Analyst Moves
• Negative Sentiment: Reserve concerns flagged: some coverage (Investing.com) noted investor attention on reserving and loss development — an area that can pressure insurers’ multiples if concerns persist. Investing.com: Reserve Concerns

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.