W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Given New $67.00 Price Target at UBS Group

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target upped by UBS Group from $66.00 to $67.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WRB. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays assumed 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 target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.64.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $61.26 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $41.82 and a twelve month high of $61.60. The company has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 83.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,757,000 after purchasing an additional 535,471 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 58.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,333,418 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $75,645,000 after buying an additional 490,669 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 190.4% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 477,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,254,000 after buying an additional 313,234 shares in the last quarter. Berkley W R Corp bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,138,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at $18,482,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.