W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.89.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective for the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $58.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $41.82 and a twelve month high of $61.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.50. The stock has a market cap of $22.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a PEG 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.39%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.