Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 19.27% from the stock’s previous close.

WRB has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note 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 research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $58.69 on Tuesday. 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 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Quarry LP bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position 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 worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.