UBS Group Raises W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $67.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target raised by UBS Group from $66.00 to $67.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a buy rating and a $68.67 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $61.31.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $58.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $57.93 and a 200-day moving average of $55.47. The company has a market cap of $22.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $41.82 and a one year high of $61.28.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly 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 during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.8% during the first quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.0% during the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.4% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,478,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.