W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $90.44.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $79.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.61. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $57.79 and a 1-year high of $89.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

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

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $213,635,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth about $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,690,000 after buying an additional 898,027 shares during the period. Maren Capital LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $37,915,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $829,511,000 after buying an additional 529,817 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.