Truist Financial Raises W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $68.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective boosted by Truist Financial from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.64.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $61.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current 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 $61.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.54. The company has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors 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 yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,037,000 after purchasing an additional 33,097 shares during the period. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 46.8% during the third quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. now owns 22,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 7,010 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 259.6% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 11,717 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 8,459 shares in the last quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during the third quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 126,469 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,175,000 after buying an additional 42,156 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 5,820 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by 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.