W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Barclays

Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an underweight rating and a $56.00 price objective on the insurance provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the company from $58.67 to $55.33 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $59.67.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 2.6 %

W. R. Berkley stock traded down $1.56 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,011,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,741,501. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $40.79 and a 1 year high of $61.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.50 and a 200 day moving average of $55.28. The stock has a market cap of $22.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. W. R. Berkley's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th were given a $0.08 dividend. This is an increase from W. R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $213,635,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $134,690,000 after purchasing an additional 898,027 shares in the last quarter. Maren Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,915,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 83.0% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $92,757,000 after purchasing an additional 535,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.