W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $70.56

Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.28.

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $73.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.87. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $27.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.27.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.90 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.8% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 5,101 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 4,552 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,570 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,073,000 after acquiring an additional 5,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,467 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 243 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 is an insurance holding company that specializes in commercial property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. Through a group of operating units, the company provides coverage for businesses and organizations facing risks related to property damage, liability, workers’ compensation, transportation, professional services and other specialty exposures.

The company generally focuses on specialty and complex risks that may require tailored underwriting, industry expertise and customized policy structures.