W. R. Berkley’s (WRB) Neutral Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Bank of America currently has a $74.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $73.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.13.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.8 %

WRB stock opened at $70.30 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.49. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $50.73 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 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by 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.