TD Cowen Begins Coverage on W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $103.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $90.44.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $79.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $57.79 and a 52 week high of $89.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $79.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.89. The company has a market capitalization of $20.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.61.

W. R. Berkley’s stock is going to split on Wednesday, July 10th. The 3-2 split was announced on Wednesday, June 12th. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, July 9th.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 20.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. This is an increase from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 7,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its position in 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 during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.