W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $66.28, but opened at $70.82. W. R. Berkley shares last traded at $71.91, with a volume of 2,142,622 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $27.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.07.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $85,853,000 after buying an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after acquiring an additional 12,830 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 72.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,574,000 after purchasing an additional 41,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15,664 shares during 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.