W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Given New $67.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $58.00 to $67.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Argus cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Brean Capital lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $69.75.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE WRB opened at $71.74 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.28. The company has a market capitalization of $26.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.29. W.R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $62.87 and a 1-year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.W.R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $29,000. Everpar Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 9,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 83,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,904,000 after purchasing an additional 2,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.