W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Receives $68.39 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $68.39.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amundi grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $982,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $560,000. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $72.60 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $66.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.25. The company has a market cap of $27.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $51.17 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

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.