Wells Fargo & Company Lowers W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $67.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $67.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the insurance provider's stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WRB. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.74.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE WRB traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $58.54. 1,367,964 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,614,720. The stock has a market cap of $22.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $48.48 and a 52 week high of $65.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.36. 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 data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. W. R. Berkley's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake 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 valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.7% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,879 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,173 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.