W. R. Berkley price target raised to $80 from $68 at Truist

Truist raised the firm’s price target on W. R. Berkley (WRB) to $80 from $68 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The reacceleration in E&S premium growth in the first quarter for WR Berkley in California, Florida, and Texas appears to signal an improved appetite for growth at the company and has usually translated into stock price upside following earnings, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Truist adds that it is reducing its Q1 EPS view to $1.03 from $1.08 to reflect marginally higher catastrophe losses but assigns a 16-times earnings multiple to its forecast in modeling a higher price target