W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Upgraded by Bank of America to Buy

Bank of America upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. Bank of America currently has $76.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $77.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on WRB. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. They set a market perform rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $79.09.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $61.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $59.50 and a 52-week high of $76.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.75. The company has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.50%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 8th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.2% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Red Cedar Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.66% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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W.R. Berkley Corp. is an insurance holding company, which engages in the property casualty insurance business. It operates through the following segments: Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment includes excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines throughout the United States, as well as insurance businesses in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, South America, Canada, Mexico, Scandinavia, Asia, and Australia.