Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes for W. R. Berkley (WRB)

Posted by Erica Schwartz on Oct 24th, 2024

W. R. Berkley (NYSE: WRB) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

10/22/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $57.00 to $63.00. They now have a “sector perform” rating on the stock.
10/22/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $68.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
10/22/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target lowered by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $59.00 to $58.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
10/22/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $57.00 to $60.00. They now have an “in-line” rating on the stock.
10/22/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $73.00 to $76.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
10/22/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $67.00 to $69.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
10/17/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $64.00 to $68.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
10/15/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $66.00 to $67.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
10/10/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $63.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
10/10/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $65.00 to $73.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
10/9/2024 – W. R. Berkley had its price target raised by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from $53.00 to $57.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
10/3/2024 – W. R. Berkley was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
9/25/2024 – W. R. Berkley was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
9/4/2024 – W. R. Berkley is now covered by analysts at Barclays PLC. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock.
9/4/2024 – W. R. Berkley was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $59.13 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $22.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $43.20 and a 1 year high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,436 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $242,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.