W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.82.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $58.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $47.59 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $60.30 and a 200-day moving average of $58.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after acquiring an additional 12,830 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 53.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,837,000 after purchasing an additional 257,211 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $235,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,801,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.