W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.12 and last traded at $62.05, with a volume of 254483 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 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.