Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $57.00 to $66.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered W. R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.59.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $68.53 on Friday. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $76.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $63.78 and a 200 day moving average of $61.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 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.