W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $58.75. 2,496,884 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,047,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $65.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.55. The company has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,214,000 after buying an additional 12,830 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 53.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $41,837,000 after purchasing an additional 257,211 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $235,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.