W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Rating Increased to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $69.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.3 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $63.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $63.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.85 and its 200 day moving average is $56.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,478,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 39,857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,132,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.