W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Receives Average Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts collectively rate W.R. Berkley “Reduce,” with six sell, nine hold and three buy recommendations. The average 12-month price target is $70.94, modestly above the stock’s $69.89 opening price.
• W.R. Berkley reported quarterly earnings of $1.27 per share, beating the $1.08 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.72 billion exceeded forecasts of $3.28 billion and rose 2.4% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, equivalent to an annualized $0.40 payout and a 0.6% yield; institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the stock.

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.9444.

WRB has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $77.00 price target (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 27th. 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 stock from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer set a $70.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Atlantic Securities set a $74.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE WRB opened at $69.89 on Friday. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $62.87 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.77. 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 cap of $25.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.28.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 140.0% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 44.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 466 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About W.R. Berkley

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.

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