W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Cut to $87.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target cut by BMO Capital Markets from $93.00 to $87.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $76.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.57. 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’s 50-day moving average is $84.26 and its 200-day moving average is $76.31. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $55.50 and a 1-year high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 5.89 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,635,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth approximately $82,706,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 89.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 898,027 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 612.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 865,205 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 213.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 782,280 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.