W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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 dropped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $90.38.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE WRB opened at $78.54 on Friday. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $89.18. 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 cap of $20.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.42 and its 200 day moving average is $77.17.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EULAV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 945,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,015,000 after buying an additional 39,716 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,970,000. NatWest Group plc acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $8,791,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $870,000. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 53,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,126,000 after buying an additional 12,140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.