W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Research Coverage Started at Barclays

Barclays started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an underweight rating and a $56.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $58.67 to $55.33 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Truist Financial raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a buy rating and a $68.67 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $59.67.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $58.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.33. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $40.86 and a 1 year high of $61.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.