Evercore ISI Boosts W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $89.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target upped by Evercore ISI from $83.00 to $89.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $89.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $82.15 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $55.50 and a 1 year high of $89.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.42 and a 200-day moving average of $75.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.70%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Glassman Wealth Services grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 123.1% during the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Clear Street Markets LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 92.3% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. 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.