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

Key Points

• W.R. Berkley received a consensus “Reduce” rating from 18 analysts: six recommend selling, nine advise holding and three recommend buying. The average 12-month price target is $70.94.
• The insurer exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.27 in EPS versus the $1.08 consensus and revenue of $3.72 billion versus estimates of $3.28 billion; revenue increased 2.4% year over year.
• W.R. Berkley raised its quarterly dividend from $0.09 to $0.10 per share, implying an annualized dividend of $0.40 and a 0.6% yield.

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the eighteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.9444.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W.R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer set a $70.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $62.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, June 12th. Mizuho lifted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $69.76 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.29. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company's 50-day moving average price is $70.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.88.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during 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 company's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 399.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 7,601 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $722,000 after buying an additional 1,056 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation NYSE: WRB is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company's product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source