W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.70.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $57.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $41.37 and a 1-year high of $61.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ING Groep NV grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 7,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.0% in the first quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.