W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $80.00 at UBS Group

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by stock analysts at UBS Group from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the insurance provider's stock. UBS Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.82% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WRB. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $69.07. The company had a trading volume of 3,092,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,791,809. The firm has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.76 and a 200-day moving average of $66.29. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $51.41 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. Equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,132,262,000 after purchasing an additional 529,294 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,787,639 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $838,808,000 after purchasing an additional 65,163 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $449,168,000 after purchasing an additional 103,350 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $357,368,000 after purchasing an additional 900,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,787,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $280,156,000 after purchasing an additional 632,578 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.