Truist Financial Increases W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $68.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective lifted by Truist Financial from $64.00 to $68.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.64.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $61.26 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $41.82 and a 12-month high of $61.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.16 and a 200-day moving average of $55.52. The firm has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,801,000. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 205.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,385,000 after purchasing an additional 46,125 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,245,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 49,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,875,000 after buying an additional 10,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 174,543 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,716,000 after buying an additional 55,942 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.