W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $64.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $45.75 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.94.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $62,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.