W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Sees Large Volume Increase

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 1,747,570 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the previous session’s volume of 1,727,024 shares.The stock last traded at $58.83 and had previously closed at $58.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $58.67 to $55.33 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.67 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.67.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.1 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $22.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is 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.