W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at TD Cowen

TD Cowen started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $103.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on WRB. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $90.44.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $79.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.89. W. R. Berkley has a fifty-two week low of $57.79 and a fifty-two week high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley shares are scheduled to split on Wednesday, July 10th. The 3-2 split was announced on Wednesday, June 12th. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, July 9th.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 5.82 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This is an increase from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 57.2% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 108,718 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,903,000 after purchasing an additional 39,561 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 9,079 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 5,040 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5,937.6% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 66,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,224,000 after acquiring an additional 65,432 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 166.2% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 17,815 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 11,123 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 18.5% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 6,293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently 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.