W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Given New $86.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $88.00 to $86.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "market perform" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.47% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $90.38.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WRB traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $78.56. 1,259,612 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,271,236. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $55.50 and a 1-year high of $89.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.81 and a 200-day moving average of $76.71.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ING Groep NV raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 7,669 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,221 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.