W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $65.49 and last traded at $65.08, with a volume of 103661 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $24.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 182.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,473,000 after purchasing an additional 26,930 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 150.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 48,849 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,771,000 after acquiring an additional 29,329 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $98,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,709,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth approximately $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.