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

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.08.

WRB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $58.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $58.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.76. The company has a market capitalization of $22.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62. 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 12-month low of $44.88 and a 12-month high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.91%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,439,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,161,417,000 after buying an additional 195,763 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,553,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $593,584,000 after purchasing an additional 54,530 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.5% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,698,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $197,838,000 after purchasing an additional 92,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $160,128,000 after buying an additional 139,588 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.