W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.08.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 6.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 14,704 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 36,959 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,269,000 after acquiring an additional 7,477 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 13,959 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 4.5% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 41,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded up $2.43 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.64. 1,659,382 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,799,825. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $58.34 and its 200 day moving average is $55.76. The stock has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $44.88 and a 12 month high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.21%.

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.