Brokerages Set W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) PT at $60.07

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.07.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $58.67 to $57.33 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $213,635,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $134,690,000 after purchasing an additional 898,027 shares in the last quarter. Maren Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $37,915,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 83.0% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,757,000 after purchasing an additional 535,471 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $59.32 on Friday. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $40.79 and a 52-week high of $59.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.61.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.62%. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. This is an increase from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

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.