Evercore ISI Raises W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $60.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price target boosted by Evercore ISI from $57.00 to $60.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

WRB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $59.32 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $58.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $43.20 and a 1 year high of $61.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,349 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,614,000 after acquiring an additional 98,381 shares during the period. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 126.7% in the 3rd quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 12,575 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 7,029 shares during the period. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,677 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 4,408 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

About W. R. Berkley

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.