W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Shares Gap Down to $79.63

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $79.63, but opened at $52.62. W. R. Berkley shares last traded at $52.73, with a volume of 69,320 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $62.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.33 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $58.67 to $55.33 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $55.33 to $59.33 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.30.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.61.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.07. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 20.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.84 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Glassman Wealth Services grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 123.1% in the fourth quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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.