W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Stock Rated “Reduce” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.56.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WRB. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, October 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Bank of America cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer set a $70.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4%

WRB stock opened at $76.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.40. The company has a market cap of $28.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.23. W.R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $62.87 and a twelve month high of $79.26.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 12.53%. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley will post 4.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 44.7% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 2.3% during the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 6,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 4.5% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,552 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

About W.R. Berkley

W.R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that operates through a group of specialized insurance businesses. The company primarily provides commercial property and casualty insurance, serving businesses, organizations and other commercial customers with coverage tailored to specific industries and risks.

Its products and services include workers’ compensation, commercial automobile, property, general liability, professional liability, directors and officers liability, excess and surplus lines, and other specialty insurance products.