StockNews.com Downgrades W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) to Hold

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.74.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $59.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $48.48 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.42.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.