Brokerages Set W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Price Target at $64.36

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.36.

Several research firms have issued reports on WRB. 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 report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 13,491 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $14,057,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $5,676,000. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Aurdan Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $3,534,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB traded up $1.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $63.27. 1,277,185 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,664,079. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company's 50 day moving average price is $60.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.73. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.34%.

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.