W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $65.65 and last traded at $65.34, with a volume of 20497 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $65.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.15. The company has a market capitalization of $27.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. 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 issued 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, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $304,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 376.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 63,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,731,000 after acquiring an additional 50,361 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 13,491 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $14,057,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,676,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.