Bank of America Boosts W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $73.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Free Report) had its price target boosted by Bank of America from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the company from $58.67 to $55.33 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a buy rating and a $68.67 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an underweight rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $60.89.

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W. R. Berkley Price Performance

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WRB stock opened at $58.57 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.76 and a 200-day moving average of $55.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $41.82 and a 12 month high of $61.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth $42,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the first quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About W. R. Berkley

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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.