W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Receives Neutral Rating from Bank of America

Bank of America reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $74.00 price target on the insurance provider's stock, up from their prior price target of $73.00.

WRB has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.13.

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W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.8 %

WRB stock traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.30. 2,311,054 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,779,140. The stock has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $62.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.34%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.