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

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.6667.

Several research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Evercore set a $69.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $70.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $60.68 and a 1-year high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.19.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 160,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.80 per share, for a total transaction of $11,369,205.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 57,668,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,082,938,296. This represents a 0.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders bought 8,822,032 shares of company stock valued at $608,511,512 over the last quarter. Insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 8.9% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,496,000 after buying an additional 16,450 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,161,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares during the period. American Trust purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,847,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 133.5% in the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 18,022 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.