W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

WRB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated 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 objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 2.3 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $62.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. 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 one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results 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 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 5,841 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 112,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,292,000 after buying an additional 37,436 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 63.7% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 6,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. 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.