W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $57.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential downside of 1.91% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $58.67 to $55.33 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.89.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $58.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $41.82 and a twelve month high of $61.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $57.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.50. 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 (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth $82,706,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 83.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,757,000 after buying an additional 535,471 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 190.4% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 477,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,254,000 after buying an additional 313,234 shares in the last quarter. Berkley W R Corp purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $21,138,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $18,482,000. 68.82% of the stock is 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.