Analysts Set W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Price Target at $68.81

Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.4375.

A number of analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. Brean Capital downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Nebraska Trust Co acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth $230,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $692,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth about $177,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 23.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Empire Financial Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 23,604 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,446 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about W.R. Berkley

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Negative Sentiment: W.R. Berkley announced the passing of founder and Executive Chairman William R. Berkley, followed by a leadership transition update. While the company said it is moving forward with succession planning, the founder’s death may create some near-term uncertainty for investors. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company named Kirk A. Parker as president of Berkley North Pacific, signaling continued management action and a focus on operational execution and profitable growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive overall, with Zacks-related updates highlighting W.R. Berkley as a top momentum stock and raising some forward EPS estimates, which can support the bullish case for the insurance company. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analyst estimate revisions were mixed but modest, with small increases for some future periods and a slight reduction for FY2027, suggesting expectations are still generally stable rather than materially changing. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Separate coverage noted that W.R. Berkley raised its dividend by more than 11% and continues returning excess capital through dividends and buybacks, reinforcing shareholder-friendly capital allocation. Article Title

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $68.16 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.30. W.R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $62.87 and a 12-month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.47%.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.