W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $90.63.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $77.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.21. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $55.50 and a 12-month high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 123.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 64,246 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after buying an additional 35,499 shares during the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 182,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth about $1,636,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 50.8% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 718 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 10,706 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $947,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.