W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Given New $76.00 Price Target at Bank of America

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price boosted by Bank of America from $73.00 to $76.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial lifted 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $58.16 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $43.20 and a 12 month high of $61.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.60. The firm has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. 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 previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in 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 during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is 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.