Analysts Set W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Target Price at $64.28

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $64.28.

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $58.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $47.18 and a 12 month high of $65.49. The stock has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.05.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.2% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 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.