Evercore ISI Raises W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $60.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target raised by Evercore ISI from $57.00 to $60.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on WRB. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $59.32 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $43.20 and a 52-week high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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. 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.