W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $74.8462.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $84.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, October 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $67.57 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The company has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.56%.

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.