W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Lowered to $50.00 at Barclays

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $56.00 to $50.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.82.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $57.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.20. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $47.59 and a 12 month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.