W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

WRB has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,055,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,041. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $58.42 and its 200 day moving average is $55.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley has a twelve month low of $45.30 and a twelve month high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the third quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 1,564,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $88,776,000 after acquiring an additional 521,630 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,333,418 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $75,645,000 after acquiring an additional 490,669 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,363,295 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,340,000 after purchasing an additional 439,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,134,214 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $64,344,000 after purchasing an additional 350,145 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.