Short Interest in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Expands By 24.9%

Posted by on Jun 1st, 2022

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,410,000 shares, an increase of 24.9% from the April 30th total of 1,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $70.45. The company had a trading volume of 16,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,599,889. The company has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $47.13 and a one year high of $71.53.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 13.55%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 176,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,572,000 after purchasing an additional 7,816 shares during the period. Eaton Vance Management grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 34.3% during the third quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 97,125 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,912,000 after purchasing an additional 24,816 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 37.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 15,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 731,236 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,247,000 after purchasing an additional 13,205 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Lane Capital LP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $145,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.90% of the company’s stock.

Several analysts recently commented on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.67 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, February 3rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.33 to $83.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.82.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile (Get Rating)

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writer in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including premises operations, commercial automobile, property, products liability, and general and professional liability lines.

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