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

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of W. R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.59.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $68.53 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.98. The company has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. 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.