W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Given New $86.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $88.00 to $86.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WRB. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.6 %

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

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $402,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,680 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Financial Strategies Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $2,708,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.5% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.6% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 35,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,258,000 after buying an additional 11,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.