Jefferies Financial Group Boosts W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $57.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 1.71% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.42.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,442,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,766,347. The stock has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $57.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.47. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $41.82 and a 1 year high of $61.28.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,439,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,161,417,000 after acquiring an additional 195,763 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,553,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $593,584,000 after purchasing an additional 54,530 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.5% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,698,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $197,838,000 after buying an additional 92,242 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $160,128,000 after buying an additional 139,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,929,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,654,000 after buying an additional 26,464 shares in 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.