Truist Financial Boosts W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $68.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.73% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.64.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $60.86. 398,858 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,753,117. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. 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’s 50-day moving average is $58.00 and its 200-day moving average is $55.50. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $41.82 and a 12-month high of $61.28.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 83.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,757,000 after buying an additional 535,471 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 190.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 477,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,254,000 after acquiring an additional 313,234 shares during the last quarter. Berkley W R Corp purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth $21,138,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $18,482,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 66.6% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 490,935 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,578,000 after purchasing an additional 196,263 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.