W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $73.00 at Bank of America

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective hoisted by Bank of America from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

WRB has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a buy rating and a $68.67 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an underweight rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $60.89.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $58.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $22.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $41.82 and a one year high of $61.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $57.76 and a 200-day moving average of $55.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth $4,801,000. Prudential PLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 205.9% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,385,000 after purchasing an additional 46,125 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $3,245,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 49,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,875,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 47.2% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 174,543 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,716,000 after purchasing an additional 55,942 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.