W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.74.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.3 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $59.57 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.52. 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 $48.69 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

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

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.