W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

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

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. 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 for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $61.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.25. The firm has a market cap of $23.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 45.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,037,000 after purchasing an additional 33,097 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth about $236,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $92,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.