BMO Capital Markets Cuts W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $87.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $93.00 to $87.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

WRB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $77.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $55.50 and a 1 year high of $89.18. The firm has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.21.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 11.38%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $829,511,000 after purchasing an additional 529,817 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,819,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $432,946,000 after acquiring an additional 302,212 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,793,764 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $409,735,000 after acquiring an additional 154,468 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $213,635,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,041,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $144,371,000 after acquiring an additional 39,594 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.