Royal Bank of Canada Cuts W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $86.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $88.00 to $86.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.96% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $0.87 on Wednesday, hitting $78.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,327,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,238,476. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.20. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $55.50 and a 1 year high of $89.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 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 $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,635,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the first quarter worth $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 89.2% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,904,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,690,000 after buying an additional 898,027 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 612.2% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,904,000 after buying an additional 865,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 213.9% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,147,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,884,000 after buying an additional 782,280 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.