W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Shares Gap Down to $79.63

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $79.63, but opened at $52.62. W. R. Berkley shares last traded at $52.73, with a volume of 69,320 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $58.67 to $57.33 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.33 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $55.33 to $59.33 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.33 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.30.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.92 and its 200-day moving average is $53.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 20.51%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Glassman Wealth Services raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 123.1% in the fourth quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.