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

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.70.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WRB. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $57.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.09. The company has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $41.37 and a fifty-two week high of $61.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The business 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%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.51%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,635,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,690,000 after purchasing an additional 898,027 shares during the period. Maren Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,915,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 83.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,757,000 after purchasing an additional 535,471 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.