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

Key Points

• W.R. Berkley Corporation received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from twelve research firms, with price targets varying from $63.00 to $80.00.
• Institutional investors own approximately 68.82% of W.R. Berkley's stock, with several firms recently increasing their stakes in the company.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.08 to $0.09, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.5%.

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.75.

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,997 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.5% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.0% during the first quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 4.4% in the second quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,343,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:WRB opened at $70.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.14 and a 200 day moving average of $67.80. W.R. Berkley has a 52 week low of $55.80 and a 52 week high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

About W.R. Berkley

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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