W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $76.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.49. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 21.01%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Glassman Wealth Services raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 123.1% in the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 132.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

About W. R. Berkley

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.