W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Receives $70.94 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.9444.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Atlantic Securities set a $74.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $70.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $3,542,919,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7,152.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 22,454,989 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,583,750,000 after buying an additional 22,145,374 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $435,752,000. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $105,639,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $95,040,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $70.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.28. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $62.87 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $70.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.75.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 12.94%.The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is an insurance holding company that operates through a group of property and casualty insurance businesses. The company provides commercial insurance and reinsurance products for businesses, organizations and other insurance companies, with an emphasis on specialty and complex risks.

Its offerings include commercial property and casualty coverage, excess and surplus lines, professional liability, workers’ compensation, commercial automobile insurance, marine insurance and other specialty products.