W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) 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.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.88.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:WRB traded down $0.12 on Friday, reaching $78.15. 1,065,605 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,189,327. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a 52-week low of $57.27 and a 52-week high of $89.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $79.70 and a 200-day moving average of $79.13.

W. R. Berkley’s stock is going to split on Wednesday, July 10th. The 3-2 split was announced on Wednesday, June 12th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, July 9th.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 12.23%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 7,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.0% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About W. R. Berkley

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.