W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $90.44.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,970,000. NatWest Group plc bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,791,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $870,000. Financial Strategies Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 53,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,126,000 after purchasing an additional 12,140 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,878,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $79.16 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $57.79 and a twelve month high of $89.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.89. The company has a market capitalization of $20.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Shares of W. R. Berkley are scheduled to split on Wednesday, July 10th. The 3-2 split was announced on Wednesday, June 12th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, July 9th.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 20.51%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 5.82 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

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.