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

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

WRB has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $58.67 to $55.33 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.67 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.67.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $58.51 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $41.82 and a 12 month high of $61.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $22.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $42,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth $44,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 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.