W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $52.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $50.00 to $52.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

WRB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $59.29 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 128.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $1,062,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $451,000. Finally, Coho Partners Ltd. bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,033,000. 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.