W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $95.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price boosted by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $86.00 to $95.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.64% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $82.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $55.50 and a one year high of $89.18. The firm has a market cap of $21.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 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 $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. AMI Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 73.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,008 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after buying an additional 7,615 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 120.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,086 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 6,614 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 11,874 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 4,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $200,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.