W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Increased to $67.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $66.00 to $67.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on WRB. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.64.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $61.04 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $41.82 and a 1-year high of $61.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.54. The stock has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.51%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.