Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $67.00 to $69.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential downside of 4.59% from the stock’s current price.

WRB has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $62.00 price target (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.69.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.1%

WRB traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 311,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,210,469. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $67.67 and its 200-day moving average is $68.25.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 140.0% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.