Brokerages Set W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Target Price at $90.38

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $90.38.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,635,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 89.2% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,690,000 after acquiring an additional 898,027 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 612.2% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $63,904,000 after acquiring an additional 865,205 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 213.9% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,147,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,884,000 after purchasing an additional 782,280 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.7 %

WRB opened at $79.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $20.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.60. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $55.50 and a one year high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.95.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 5.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

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.