W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Given New $58.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $59.00 to $58.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

WRB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $58.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $43.20 and a 12-month high of $61.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $58.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,801,000. Prudential PLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 205.9% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,385,000 after purchasing an additional 46,125 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,245,000. CHB Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,880,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 25.6% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 49,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,875,000 after buying an additional 10,053 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.