W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $52.00 at Barclays

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price boosted by analysts at Barclays from $50.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 12.36% from the company’s current price.

WRB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $59.34 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. On average, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $857,814,000 after acquiring an additional 4,947,830 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $642,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825,238 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $429,266,000 after buying an additional 2,459,073 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $417,897,000 after buying an additional 2,616,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.