Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Price

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $73.00 to $76.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.25% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Mizuho set a $67.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.21. The stock had a trading volume of 648,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,886,872. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.44. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $26.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 237,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $69.35 per share, for a total transaction of $16,486,852.90. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 50,764,245 shares in the company, valued at $3,520,500,390.75. This trade represents a 0.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 1,957,657 shares of company stock valued at $137,235,699 in the last ninety days. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.