W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.6 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $62.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.07 and a 200-day moving average of $59.68. The company has a market cap of $23.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.34%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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.