Royal Bank of Canada Lowers W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $86.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $88.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.38% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group increased their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $77.91 on Wednesday. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $89.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.22.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued 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. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 5.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Glassman Wealth Services lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 123.1% during the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other 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.