W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

WRB has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a buy rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $56.51 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $56.89 and its 200 day moving average is $72.40. The firm has a market cap of $21.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. 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 has a 52-week low of $41.37 and a 52-week high of $61.28.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.0% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.0% during the first 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 last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.