Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $62.00 to $66.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the insurance provider's stock.

WRB has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. TD Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.75.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock traded down $0.81 on Monday, reaching $70.68. 2,425,655 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,779,510. W.R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $51.41 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.41.

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

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 2.5% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.7% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,237 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 162 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.