W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Upgraded 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 released on Sunday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Barclays raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.36.

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W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.61. 1,139,388 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,870,624. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.56.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,900 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 77.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,389 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 5,841 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 50.1% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 112,153 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,292,000 after buying an additional 37,436 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 63.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,544 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 6,829 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 416 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.