W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Cut to $78.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target cut by Truist Financial from $80.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America reduced their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $68.63.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $67.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $63.67 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 12.64%.The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 112,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at $4,243,948,490. This represents a 0.19% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 4,518,946 shares of company stock valued at $313,702,138 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $3,542,919,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $682,816,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $435,752,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 35,572.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,219,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $155,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,213,679 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 33.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,363 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting W.R. Berkley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results: WRB beat EPS expectations ($1.30 vs. $1.13 consensus), reported higher net income and operating income, and showed growth in gross premiums written — supporting the rally. Business Wire: Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst stance: Truist kept a Buy rating despite trimming its price target to $78, leaving meaningful upside vs. the current price and offering support to bullish investors. TickerReport: Truist PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets highlighted WRB as a value-name (style-score writeups) and published the full earnings call transcript for investors who want management color on underwriting, reserving and investment trends. Zacks: Value Stock Earnings Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue / premiums question: some reports characterize Q1 as mixed — while EPS beat, premiums and revenue metrics were described as slightly below certain expectations, which could concern underwriting-growth-focused investors. Zacks: Q1 Earnings/Revenue
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts/downgrades: Wells Fargo trimmed its target to $64 and set an “equal weight” rating, and Barclays moved its target to $64 while keeping an “underweight” stance — both actions put near-term downside into focus. Benzinga: Analyst Moves
• Negative Sentiment: Reserve concerns flagged: some coverage (Investing.com) noted investor attention on reserving and loss development — an area that can pressure insurers’ multiples if concerns persist. Investing.com: Reserve Concerns

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.