W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• W.R. Berkley reached a 52-week high of $79.26, trading recently at $77.64, up from its prior close of $76.71.
• Analyst views are mixed: three rate the stock Buy, nine Hold and six Sell; the average rating is “Reduce” with a $70.56 price target, below the recent trading price.
• Quarterly EPS of $1.17 beat estimates of $1.15, but revenue of $3.74 billion missed forecasts and fell 0.8% year over year.

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $79.26 and last traded at $77.6390, with a volume of 337,050 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price 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. Evercore reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "underweight" rating and set a $68.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $70.56.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $28.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.23. The firm's fifty day moving average is $70.88 and its 200-day moving average is $69.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.82 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 19.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 8.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $105,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $95,040,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1,300.5% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 751,280 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $52,988,000 after acquiring an additional 697,638 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 23.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,904,522 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $192,512,000 after acquiring an additional 550,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 10.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,972,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $263,326,000 after purchasing an additional 377,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W.R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that operates through a group of specialized insurance businesses. The company primarily provides commercial property and casualty insurance, serving businesses, organizations and other commercial customers with coverage tailored to specific industries and risks.

Its products and services include workers' compensation, commercial automobile, property, general liability, professional liability, directors and officers liability, excess and surplus lines, and other specialty insurance products.

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