Brokerages Set W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Price Target at $68.31

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.3125.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WRB. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $62.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 140.0% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $72.09 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The company’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.47%.

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.