W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Receives $70.44 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.9444.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $62.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, July 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,801,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,233,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,630,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 118,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,336,000 after buying an additional 18,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 105.4% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 29,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after buying an additional 15,240 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 3.0%

NYSE:WRB opened at $73.38 on Friday. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $27.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.49% and a net margin of 12.94%.The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

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.