W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $64.36.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,487,097 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $145,545,000 after buying an additional 455,311 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $217,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $1,058,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 5,280 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 14,881 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 3,046 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.39. 1,432,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,203,621. The stock has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $59.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.12. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 7.33%.

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.