Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Barclays from $50.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 11.40% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $58.69 on Tuesday. 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 has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. Analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFS Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.