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Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Price

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Key Points

  • Jefferies Financial Group has reduced its price target for W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00, maintaining a "hold" rating on the stock, indicating a modest potential upside of 1.78%.
  • Other analysts have also adjusted their ratings, with TD Cowen downgrading W.R. Berkley to "hold" with a price objective of $78.00, while UBS Group set a higher target of $87.00 with a "buy" rating.
  • W.R. Berkley reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.10, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.07, and demonstrated a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.8%.
  • Five stocks to consider instead of W.R. Berkley.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target would indicate a potential upside of 1.78% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $87.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.38.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on W.R. Berkley

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $73.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.92. W.R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $78.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The business's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 23.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,442 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 16.0% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,305 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth $608,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 4.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,842 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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