W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Share Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average of $54.94

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $54.94 and traded as high as $58.03. W. R. Berkley shares last traded at $57.98, with a volume of 628,602 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WRB. TD Cowen initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $58.67 to $57.33 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.07.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $22.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $55.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.94.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.62%. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This is a boost from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. ING Groep NV raised its holdings 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 lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.0% during 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 in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% in the 1st 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 stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.