W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Gets Price Target Bump from Cantor Fitzgerald

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $73.00 to $74.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price points to a potential upside of 2.83% from the company’s current price.

WRB has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 price target (up from $71.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Atlantic Securities set a $74.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $70.44.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $71.96 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.27. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.71.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $3,542,919,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 10.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,972,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $263,326,000 after acquiring an additional 377,742 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 3.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,768,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $249,757,000 after acquiring an additional 129,801 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 23.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,904,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $192,512,000 after acquiring an additional 550,560 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,790,374 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $195,661,000 after acquiring an additional 26,726 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W.R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that specializes in commercial property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. Through a group of operating units, the company provides coverage for businesses and organizations facing risks related to property damage, liability, workers’ compensation, transportation, professional services and other specialty exposures.

The company generally focuses on specialty and complex risks that may require tailored underwriting, industry expertise and customized policy structures.