W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Receives $64.36 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $64.36.

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $64.17 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The stock has a market cap of $24.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.52 and a 200 day moving average of $59.82.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.