W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Sets New 52-Week Low at $60.51

W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $60.51 and last traded at $60.93, with a volume of 172660 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.40.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.60 and its 200 day moving average is $69.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.09. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 8th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.2% during the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 3,558 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 16,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 11,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 15,898 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.66% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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W.R. Berkley Corp. is an insurance holding company, which engages in the property casualty insurance business. It operates through the following segments: Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment includes excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines throughout the United States, as well as insurance businesses in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, South America, Canada, Mexico, Scandinavia, Asia, and Australia.