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

StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on WRB. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of WRB opened at $62.27 on Thursday. 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 $45.75 and a 1-year high of $62.54. The stock has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

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

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.