W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Price Down 5%

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) was down 5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $79.23 and last traded at $79.23. Approximately 405,602 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 1,188,741 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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 note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The firm 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 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 123.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 64,246 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 35,499 shares during the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 182,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at $1,636,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.8% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 718 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 10,706 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.