Barclays Raises W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $52.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target hoisted by Barclays from $50.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

WRB has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $59.29 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. On average, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,062,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $451,000. Finally, Coho Partners Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,033,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.