W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Cut to $58.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $59.00 to $58.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential downside of 1.91% from the stock’s previous close.

WRB has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.0 %

WRB stock opened at $59.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $43.20 and a one year high of $61.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $58.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.