Argus Initiates Coverage on W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

Posted by MarketBeat News on Aug 6th, 2022

Argus began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $72.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on WRB. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.33 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, May 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $70.03.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $61.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.39. W. R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $47.13 and a 1 year high of $72.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.98. The firm has a market cap of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.65.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 17.26%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 27th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 24th. This is a positive change from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W. R. Berkley

In other W. R. Berkley news, Director Mark Ellwood Brockbank purchased 1,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.85 per share, for a total transaction of $88,692.90. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $371,100. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 22.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 134.6% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 409.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 438 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.3% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 448 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 49.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About W. R. Berkley

(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.