W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $76.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $89.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. EULAV Asset Management increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.4% during the third quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 945,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,015,000 after purchasing an additional 39,716 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,970,000. NatWest Group plc bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,791,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $870,000. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 53,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,126,000 after purchasing an additional 12,140 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.