StockNews.com Upgrades W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) to Buy

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

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WRB. Bank of America boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.28.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.86. 2,196,288 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,745,946. The company has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.65. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $45.75 and a one year high of $65.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $857,814,000 after buying an additional 4,947,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $642,294,000 after acquiring an additional 3,825,238 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $429,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently 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.